Don't Ask Don't Tell
by Lapis Love
Summary: It's back but with some changes! "I never thought this would happen to me, that I would begin to crave the one thing nature said I couldn't have, that I shouldn't want, but he's all I think about. What is a witch to do?" That was just one question Bonnie Bennett asked herself, and stared at the only vampire in the world who could supply the answer.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Back by popular demand. I tried posting this on another site but their process of uploading stories is time consuming and frustrating. I've made some drastic edits, but not too many. Enjoy you guys! Oh yes, this contains subject matter not suitable for those under 18.**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

They needed to keep their distance from each other. Nothing good ever happened whenever they were alone. Well, that wasn't entirely true. When they weren't screaming at one another, insulting the other, or shooting down ideas, the moment they stopped and realized how undeniably sexy they were, hands attacked flesh, lips met with a bruising force, and clothes got ripped off.

Damon Salvatore lay in the center of his humongous bed, one arm bent behind his head, the other draped over his naked torso. He worked his tongue back and forth across his teeth. Earlier today he had met with the "gang" at Mystic Grill to explain the new round of mysterious deaths that had plagued the city. They had a serial killer on their hands and no one was sure if the person was supernatural in nature or not.

This wasn't exactly something he wanted to dump into the hands of an eighteen year old chick with family issues, but at the moment Bonnie Bennett was the only one capable of helping him.

He hated asking people for help because to him, in his mind, it exposed a weakness. But Liz had come to him since he was the resident expert on death, hoping he might be able to shed some light on her new case. Well, Damon had exhausted all of his expertise and came up with nothing. No one, as usual, had seen or heard anything.

Yet all of that was just the tip of the iceberg because whoever the killer was, they were using weapons from Alaric's personal collection which had Elena's DNA all over them.

Apparently someone was trying to frame her.

And the only person he could think of who might be able to help him was the witch. He already had the magic words locked in the bank to get Bonnie to agree to help: It's Elena. So when he showed up at her house a week after the first two victims were found, he didn't expect her to answer her door dripping wet and wrapped in a towel.

Damon was too stunned to say anything—missing the perfect opportunity to embarrass the living daylights out of her. His jaw had been a little slack as he boldly raked his eyes over her form beginning with her cute manicured toes, to her perfectly shaped legs—she had awesome legs—to her heaving cleavage that was exposed due to the knot in the towel.

When he managed to make eye contact with Bonnie she was more annoyed than caught off guard.

"What do you want?" she asked brusquely.

"I…uh…need to talk to you about something."

"Well can it wait because I was in the middle of something?"

Damon shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I don't mind waiting. Just throw some clothes on. This is important."

She had frowned at him and for a second he almost thought she might have had someone in her room, but then discarded that notion as preposterous because Bonnie was asexual.

However, he did smell something peculiar and mouth-watering floating off her skin.

His eyes widened just a bit when he recognized the scent. Female arousal. Had she been…masturbating when he showed up?

Damon looked her over again and dismissed it because Bonnie didn't seem to even know what the word meant.

Bonnie really didn't want him loitering outside of her house while she changed clothes. Yet, she didn't want to invite him in either.

It was bad enough that before he arrived she was preoccupied in the shower, using the new detachable showerhead after discovering a more explicit use for it.

She had been pent up, wound up, and just a touch over crazy the last few weeks, and didn't know how to let out the frustration. She had tried listening to soothing music, tried meditating, tried working out new spells, tried, tried, tried. Nothing helped. So then, after an intense Zumba session, Bonnie hopped in the shower, using the detachable head and found the pulse of streaming water against her skin—stimulating.

She wasn't prone to self-pleasure. Her mind was always preoccupied with more important stuff than seeking out that all elusive orgasm, but she merely let her problems dissolve into background noise as she allowed the stream of water to stimulate her neglected skin.

Bonnie had sighed happily when she targeted her breasts that her eyes fluttered shut and a fantasy began to take over.

She imagined a pair of hands stimulating her chest until her nipples stood out proudly and on full display until a warm mouth covered them.

And just as she moved the showerhead to the apex of her thighs, that's when the freaking doorbell decided to ring.

She wasn't terribly surprised it was Damon. Just a touch annoyed that he interrupted the makings of a long overdue orgasm and now, there was no way for her to recreate the heat of that solitary moment.

Yeah, it didn't escape her that he drank in her half-naked and dripping wet appearance either. Bonnie avoided any and all contact with Damon unless it was just unavoidable so to have him show up at her door out of the blue more than likely to ask a favor that involved her, candles, and her spell book, right now she just wasn't in the mood to play nice.

"Look , I'll meet you at the boardinghouse."

She slammed the door in his face and trod her way back upstairs to get dressed.

Her desire however wasn't as completely gone as she thought it was.

When Bonnie showed up in her customary uniform of painted on jeans, a flattering shirt that accentuated her over average sized breasts, that she paired with a military inspired coat, and her favorite boots, she found Damon standing in front of the stain glass window.

His back was to her and as usual he was drinking in the middle of the day, although it was a Saturday.

She didn't slam the door to capture his attention. He already knew she had arrived. Bonnie dumped her purse and grimoire on the sofa, wove her way through the maze of furniture to stand beside him.

Silently the both of them stared out the window and when she looked up at him, the sun hitting him straight in the face making his celestial eyes ignite like a methane flame, her breath got lodged painfully in her throat. In sunlight his skin was alabaster, the color of the moon made even more startling by his hair that was so black it almost looked blue. His lips were pinker than usual and they drew her attention the most and held it.

"Staring is rude, Jugdey."

His condescending voice decimated whatever spell nature was cruelly trying to weave around her. Feeling anything other than contempt for Damon Salvatore just wouldn't do.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You wanted a favor so lets hear it."

He smirked and turned away from the window, dulling the effects of his lethal sexiness although not by much.

"There's a killer loose and he or she seems to be targeting members of the founding families. But here's the kicker, all the murder weapons that have been retrieved have come from Alaric's collection and they each have Elena's DNA on them."

Bonnie had expected Damon to ask her anything, but she hadn't expected this. Her eyebrows nearly lifted all the way off her forehead.

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Is there anything in the grimoire that might help identify who's behind these murders? Or something that can expose malicious intent?"

Bonnie wasn't sure about that. She shook her head and went to go retrieve her book. Bonnie automatically began flipping through the pages, not watching her step. The heel of her boot got caught on a snag in the carpet and the next thing she knew, she was being catapulted forward.

Damon moved with lightning quick reflexes, throwing his tumbler of whiskey aside. It crashed on the floor as he reached out to break Bonnie's fall.

The grimoire went flying out of her hands, and she closed her eyes expecting to make contact with the nice hard ground below, but something wrapped around her and when she landed, she realized she was cushioned on Damon's chest.

Their legs were entwined and he had both arms wrapped around her waist. Her heart was beating so fast it was a miracle it was still lodged in her chest.

Bonnie very carefully lifted her head off his impressive and rock-hard chest and met his eyes. She hadn't been this close to Damon since the night she faked her death and he carried her bridal style to his car.

"You okay?" he grunted.

"Yeah. You?"

"No," he grimaced. "Your knee got me in the balls."

She giggled just a little bit as she attempted to climb off his body, ignoring how pleasant it felt against her softer one. Bonnie stilled and then froze when she realized that some how, someway her shirt got snared around the button of his jeans.

"Crikey," she moaned. "My shirt's caught. Hang on a second." Bonnie reluctantly reached between them, and tried to unwrap her shirt from around the button of Damon's jeans when her knuckles accidentally brushed against his manhood.

She didn't know this naturally and wiggled a bit to free herself, but she was inadvertently rubbing against his dick that shamelessly began to engorge and lengthen.

He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. After a few torturous seconds Bonnie freed herself and scrambled off him.

Damon made a show of cupping himself, one because there was still a little painful throb going off in his nuts, and two he needed to conceal his semi-erection.

Bonnie blushed and wondered if she should help him to his feet, but instead she went to go retrieve her grimoire that she saw had landed in the puddle of his spilled drink.

"Hot damnit," she cried and picked it up and scowled. Several pages were wet and the ancient writing was bleeding across the page.

"Please tell me that wasn't the spell you needed?"

She glared at him, walked over to the fireplace, and instantly started a fire with her powers. Bonnie held the dripping book in front of the flames, taking care not to get it too close or she'd ignite the whole thing.

Damon for his part cleaned up the broken glass thankful his semi-erection was going down.

That certainly never happened with the witch.

He joined her on the floor as she attempted to dry the wet pages. "I'm not sure what was on those pages and now I'll never know."

"I'm sure there's a spell somewhere in there that can retrieve spells," he tried for optimism. Bonnie just stared at him like she wanted to tell him to shut up and stick to what he knew.

"While that's drying…tell me more about the case."

So he did. Damon spent the next fifteen minutes filling her in on what he knew and what he didn't and who he suspected.

Bonnie had listened intently. She was no closer to coming up with a viable solution.

"I'm still not sure how much help you think I'm going to be, Damon. I'm used to dealing with vampires, werewolves, and hybrids, not humans."

"Yeah, me too."

"I'll look. I just won't know what I'm looking for until something jumps out at me."

"Like this," he said and lunged for Bonnie. She squealed and couldn't scramble off the floor fast enough and found herself once again pressed against his chest, pinned to the floor.

"Get the hell off me!" she glared up at him.

"You can move me," he smirked.

"Damon what's wrong with you?" she asked and refused to take note of how his body fell into her dips and grooves as if they were different sides of the same coin.

"This is what's called being playful, Judgey. Has it really been that long?"

She rolled her eyes, pursed her lips, and attempted to remove him the old fashioned way. Naturally that wasn't happening.

Bonnie used to horseplay with Matt all the time, but they were too old for that now. In the past it was all well and good when they figured the only use for his hardware was to pee. Now that they knew it was meant for way more than that, their wrestling sessions were non-existent.

Bonnie was two seconds from mumbling a spell to get him off her when she made the fatal mistake of looking into his eyes. They were so blue they looked silver framed with thick long lashes any model would pay top dollar for and he had them naturally. Her eyes dropped momentarily to stare at his mouth. When it wasn't stuck in a sh*t-eating smirk, it was a beautifully shaped mouth meant for kissing and nibbling. And for a brief, very brief second Bonnie wondered how his lips would feel against hers.

"Bet you've never been in this position before," he said cockily.

Naturally he'd have to ruin whatever was about to happen by talking. Summoning up her energy she telepathetically pushed him off her. Damon landed on the ground, chuckling good-naturedly.

"Don't ever do that again," Bonnie threatened and brushed off her clothes as if to erase the feel of him off her body.

Bonnie snatched up her grimoire, and stomped over to her purse. She was ready to leave.

Damon rose to his feet and blocked Bonnie's path at the door. "I was only messing with you. No need to get your panties in a bunch. There's still a lot we have to talk about, and you've barely looked in that book for anything that could help me out."

Bonnie huffed. "Do we have to do this now?"

"Time is of the essence," Damon said gravely.

"You think the killer might kill again?"

He shrugged. "The killer might already be killing. That's why we gotta hustle, witchy."

"Fine. But keep your hands to yourself."

For the next two hours they poured through the grimoire going from cover to cover, and retracing their steps.

They found nothing.

Bonnie massaged the crick in her neck. Her eyes were a bit blurry and she checked the time on her cell phone. She didn't have any immediate plans. Caroline had gone on a college tour trip along with Matt. Elena had gone to visit Jeremy in Denver. Alaric was hopefully somewhere not being killed. Tyler was still missing. And Stefan…

"Where's Stefan?" Bonnie asked.

Damon shrugged. Stefan had fled the boardinghouse before he woke up this morning. "Wherever he typically is around this time. I don't know."

"Don't you think you should call him and make sure he hasn't done something stupid?"

"He's a grown man. Whatever mess he's made he's old enough to clean it up."

Bonnie's smile was sardonic. "Oh, to have an older brother like you."

"I am the best," he winked at her.

Bonnie snorted.

She rubbed the right side of her neck again. Damon watched her for a moment before approaching her. He stood behind her and observed as she tenderly gripped her skin before releasing it and gripping it again. This prompted him to remove her hand causing Bonnie to jump.

"What are you doing?"

He ignored the heightened pitch to her voice. "I happen to give the best massages, witchy. Just trust me. You've been working this spot for the last hour and that muscle is no more relaxed than when it first started cramping."

"I'll be fine, Damon."

"Pfft, you will be after my hands have had their way with you."

Bonnie gulped nervously. She really didn't want Damon to touch her. Not after the colorful start to their day, and the tripping accident, or when he was trying to be "playful".

Bonnie had never removed her jacket from the time she entered the boardinghouse, so when he attempted to work it off her shoulders, he felt Bonnie stiffen.

Damon bent until his mouth grazed the outer shell of her ear. "Just trust me, Bonnie." He removed her coat and Bonnie shivered against feeling the cool air of the boardinghouse seep through the thin material of her shirt.

Damon's cold hands on her skin didn't help matters much as he slipped them under the collar of her shirt and began squeezing and rubbing her shoulders and neck.

At first she was as stiff as a board, but as he continued to rub, her skin grew warm, and she felt her tight muscles beginning to uncoil and relax.

"We should move this to another area," he suggested.

Bonnie had damn near fallen asleep. She thought he meant move it to over to the couch where she could stretch out and get more comfortable, but somehow she ended up on his bed—the infamous Damon Salvatore bed that was so big it had its own area code.

Damon strolled back into his room carrying two bottles of oil. He had been a little surprised that Bonnie didn't protest against being alone in his room with him. Probably because she figured he wasn't attracted to her and wouldn't try anything.

Well, she was right but only partially.

Bonnie wasn't the conventional beauty- typical yet unimaginative. Parts of her were girl-next-door, but her features were exotic with her almond shaped emerald eyes, flawless caramel skin, and those lips that stayed quirked in the shape of Cupid's bow. She was petite in height but carried feminine curves. In other words she had a body that was made for sex.

And as such, his body responded to her how a man's body responds to an attractive woman.

Bonnie lied stretched out horizontally across his bed with her legs crossed at the ankles. She was using her folded arms as a makeshift pillow when he approached his bed and climbed on.

She was still wearing her shirt so that prompted him to grab it by the hem and wrench it up.

Bonnie jolted up from the bed and looked at him over her shoulder. "What are you doing? I agreed to let you give me a massage, not take my clothes off."

He stared at her drolly. "How do you expect the massage to be effective if you're dressed like a nun? I was only taking your top off so it doesn't get oil stains on it. You can leave your bra on."

Bonnie stared at him and wondered if this was part of some undercover, sneaky seduction. Her morals and ethics were already screaming at her that she had climbed into her enemy's bed and that she needed to retreat ASAP, but she really wanted a massage and her muscles were exponentially tight. Those few seconds downstairs had only made her greedy for more.

Minutes ticked off and then Bonnie relented. She turned back around and took her shirt off herself. She threw it on the bedside table and flopped back down.

Damon smirked, moved into position, planting his knees on both sides of Bonnie, opened up a bottle of oil and dribbled it against her skin.

Bonnie bit her lip to keep from making a single sound. She closed her eyes and imagined that Ian Somerhalder was giving her a massage and not Damon Salvatore. With his palm, he rubbed the oil across her back in elliptical circles before going in for the kill.

Damon began with her shoulders, after pushing her long, thick chocolate hair aside to her left shoulder. He kneaded the flesh, felt Bonnie undulate a little bit against the bed, and every so often she'd sigh or moan and if it weren't for his advanced hearing he'd miss every little sound that emitted from her lips.

Her skin was as soft as it looked while he concentrated on her shoulders and lower back. Soon soft snores could be heard and he paused for a moment—thinking.

With her bra on she still wasn't getting the full effect of his massage so he very tentatively unhooked it, slid her arms out of the loops and tossed it to join her shirt on the bedside table. Bonnie murmured something before she relaxed again and Damon went back to work.

He tried to keep his thoughts clean. Failed. He began to wonder how her skin tasted. Wondered if she were a hair puller, back scratcher, if her heat was as tight as adhesive glue.

He groaned as he felt blood coagulate in his shaft and it began to press against the fly of his jeans.

Bonnie was either completely knocked out or she was close to being there. To test his theory, he slid one hand between her stomach and the mattress reaching for the button to her jeans. He quickly undid it, lowered the fly, and then began to pull her jeans off. He almost bit clean through his lip when he saw she was wearing a see-through pair of dark purple lace panties that left nothing to the imagination.

Bonnie rose again but there was a slumberous expression on her face. "What's going on?" she asked with a slight croak in her throat.

"Shush, lay back down."

Bonnie felt a draft against her legs and realized she was missing her pants. When she looked at Damon and noticed he was still fully dressed it calmed her racing heart but not by much. It was kind of hard to miss the very noticeable tent in his jeans.

"I think I should go," she continued to protest and realized that her bra was gone.

Damon was over her again, pressing her back into the mattress with a firm hand. "How many times am I going to have to tell you to _relax?" _

"I guess until it goes through my concrete head."

"You said it, I didn't." Pause. "I'll keep things clean, Bonnie. I promise."

She sucked her teeth, but then relented again. "You better keep your word."

Bonnie really didn't understand why she hadn't demanded her pants back and then promptly set his brains on fire for undressing her down to her knickers while she dozed off. Maybe because it had been so long since _anyone _pampered her, focused their sole attention on her. Of course her host left much to be desired but as of late she could admit to not hating Damon as much as she used to. When she thought about it, when they put their brilliant minds together they made—for lack of a better word—magic. She trusted him far more than she thought would be possible.

However, she didn't want to use any of those reasons for an excuse for why she simply decided to throw caution to the wind.

Maybe she was testing him and herself—willing to see how far he'd take her guard being down prior to ruining everything.

Bonnie listened to the fire crackling and waited for Damon to put his warm hands on her again.

He didn't disappoint.

He began at her lower back, barely skimmed over her ass that made her bite down on a corner of her lip. His masterful hands worked the flesh and muscle of her hamstrings and worked their way over her tight calves before he massaged her feet and each individual toe.

Damon felt the blood pumping in his veins. Bonnie was stretched out like some delicatessen and he wanted to sample every single delectable morsel of her.

Her heart beat evenly and he could distinguish her calm breathing. As he moved his way back up her body, he aligned himself over her and deliberately laid on top of Bonnie, planting his stiff rod right between her cheeks.

When she leaned up again and looked over her shoulder, Damon angled himself forward and pressed his lips to hers.

Bonnie gasped and pulled away immediately. It would be useless to ask him what he was doing. That was more than obvious. What she wanted to know was:

"Why me and why now?"

"You're a beautiful naked woman lying on my bed. Why not?"

"You're going to have to do better than that."

"Because I want you."

"I don't want you, Damon."

He smiled cockily and boldly ran his fingers over her sex. She gasped again. "Liar. Why are you dripping wet if you don't want me?"

"You were giving me a massage…it felt good…my body was naturally going to respond to the stimulation."

Damon surmised her answer was rational. And he almost believed her. Almost. But her heart rate was picking up and she couldn't stop lowering her eyes to his lips, and he hadn't missed the fact she was grinding herself against him although she'd say she was attempting to crawl away.

He had too much experience and knew better.

Damon began to speak right into her ear. "How long has it been since someone touched you, kissed you, made you burn?"

Her nostrils flared. "You should know the answer to that question."

And he did. But he wanted Bonnie to admit it out loud.

"Don't play this game with me, Damon," Bonnie warned. "Thank you for the massage but I need to go."

"You sure?" his eyes bored into her with barely restrained lust.

She gulped, lost her tongue and forgot how to talk for a minute. Damon never looked at her like that.

After a minute or two passed, Bonnie nodded her head.

Damon lifted off her and she felt bereft. The tepid warmth of his body had singed her skin, raised the hairs all over. She almost wanted to whimper. His weight had felt so good and comforting. But now she realized she was in bit of a pickle. The only article of clothing she had on were her panties which were shamelessly soaked.

Damon made no move to hand her, her clothes. Merely looked at her expectantly waiting for her to make a move.

And she did. Bonnie licked her lips and turned over, exposed her breasts to him.

His eyes immediately dropped to her heaving chest. And the look of pure unadulterated lust that washed over his face made a flood gush between her legs. There was no masking it, hiding it, or writing it off. He knew she was horny and he knew he was the cause of it and that her body was strumming for his touch again.

But she'd be damned to ask him to get her off.

Bonnie had an amazing rack, Damon thought and he imagined testing the weight of her tits in his hands, and wondered how they would taste under his tongue.

If possible he felt his dick get harder just at the thought.

They stared at one another and wondered who was going to make the first move.

Bonnie rose to a sitting position which brought her closer to Damon. Blindly she reached down to find purchase on the bed to scoot her way off it, but unfortunately her hand landed on his thigh.

He groaned at the feel of her scorching hand touching him, branding him through his jeans that felt like they were cutting off the circulation to the rest of his body.

Bonnie inwardly moaned. He was nothing but muscle and steel under her fingertips and that only served to make her deeply curious about that protruding male part of him that was barely being confined in his jeans.

"I won't tell if you don't tell," he said. "We both need this. This thing…has been boiling between us for a long time. You know it was going to come to this sooner than later."

Bonnie could argue the point but wasn't exactly in the mood. "And after tonight, what? We go back to hating each other."

He smiled like a Cheshire cat. "You stopped hating me a long time ago, Bonnie. And you know it."

"Okay so we go back to barely tolerating one another?"

He shrugged. "That's entirely up to you."

"Why are you leaving this in my hands? You're the control freak."

"Maybe because I'm interested in seeing how you handle the challenge."

Her eyes narrowed. "This whole thing…is nothing but a game to you?"

"It's more than that. This is who I am, Bonnie." He reached for her hand and placed it right on top of his erection. Her eyes ballooned. "You feel that? That's all for you."

Bonnie mouthed, "Damn." There was no way she could leave his room, this house, without knowing what that pipe felt like buried deep in her.

Damon saw her resolve melting. Victory was right around the corner. "You want it?"

Her mouth parted and Bonnie nodded.

"Good because it wants you too," and in the next second Damon swept forward and captured her lips again.

Her back hit the mattress and she was tunneling her fingers through his baby soft black hair, and swirling her tongue around his. The man could kiss!

Damon forced her legs apart with his knee as he settled himself between her thighs. Her heady aroma permeated the far recesses of his mind and all he wanted to do was rip her panties clean off her, bury his tongue down her hot hole and make her writhe like a fish out of water on his bed.

So he did just that.

He broke the kiss and directed his lips to that hollow space where her shoulder and neck connected, trailed down the column on her neck alternating between licking, biting, and kissing. When he reached her breasts, he pushed them together and sucked one nipple then the other before taking them both in his mouth at the same time. Bonnie certainly never thought that was possible.

When he released her breasts, and they bounced back into place, he dragged the bottom of his tongue over her abs, and ran it along the seam of her underwear before he grabbed a hold of her panties and tugged them off.

Bonnie was breathing spasmodically the whole while, gripping his sheets in her hands, balling them in her fists.

Damon stopped to admire her soaking wet snatch and dove in to eat.

Her back arched several inches off the bed and her hands found new purchase by grabbing him by the hair on the crown of his head.

Bonnie's eyes crossed, she began speaking in another language, and had effectively clamped her legs around Damon's head and shoulders trapping him.

While his tongue was busy, Damon worked his jeans off, kicked his boots off and positioned himself more comfortably on the bed. She was hyperventilating and on the verge of dying of asphyxiation. Bonnie came to rest on her elbows so she could watch Damon has he consumed her like a starved man.

Her thighs quivered as she stretched them until she was practically doing a split.

Damon rose up as well and climbed over her.

Their eyes connected and Bonnie grabbed him by the back of the neck uniting their lips again.

When he broke the kiss, he hadn't made a single move to sink into her. "What do you want?"

"Please…"

He reached between them and played with her pearl. Bonnie hissed and fell back against the bed again.

"Damon…"

He eased the head in, felt Bonnie tense as she almost bit through her lip. But mercilessly he withdrew. She released the breath she had been holding and glared at him.

He winked at her. He could do this all day.

"I'm not going to stick it in until you tell me what you want, Bonnie. You've never held back in that area. No time to be shy now."

She groaned and threw her arm over her eyes.

He teased her again, making her pant before he pulled out again.

Okay, that time was a little harder to do. She felt like heated silk. He hissed and she hissed and they sounded like a pit of snakes.

"Stop teasing me!"

"Cooperate and I will."

"Urg!" Bonnie came to rest on her elbows again. Her eyes were nearly black that's how tightly wound she was. "All right fine," she spat. "I want you, Damon. I want you buried all the way to my cervix. Be as dirty as you want. As creative as you want. Just stick that rod in me and keep it there."

To say he was a little surprised by her demands was an understatement, and he chuckled in appreciation of her straightforwardness.

"As you wish," he said and stabbed himself into Bonnie who sighed happily and grunted a bit. She was tight, incredibly tight and he was a little fearful he might not last as long as he wanted. He felt her inner muscles contracting against him along with her heat and wetness and he hadn't even made one pump into her.

Damon made Bonnie his in every way imaginable in every position imaginable. Hearing her shout to the rooftops was honestly the most beautiful and self-gratifying thing Damon had ever her, which made his own tumble into the abyss the hardest nut he busted—period.

He slowly eased out of Bonnie even as her muscles continued to contract against him. He laid beside her, spooning, kissed her shoulder, and wiped strands of hair off her sweat slicked face.

She was trying her best to regulate her breathing. Feeling Damon beside her made her feel warm and protected yet she was already preparing herself for a snarky comment.

To her surprise, Damon grabbed his burnished gold comforter and threw it over them. He drew circles on her shoulder with his tongue. He had never felt his sated and satisfied in his entire life.

**That was days ago **that the unexpected shift in their hate-tolerate relationship took not only him by surprise but completely monopolized his thoughts. It was annoying and irritating that when circumstances called for them to be in the same room together, he'd instantly begin salivating. No matter how many times they talked or looked at one another with slightly baleful expressions to hold up the pretense that they still hated each other, in his mind, he played back how Bonnie melted on his tongue like cotton candy, and how he hissed in pleasure whenever she'd rake her nails down his back and over his arms.

Damon didn't want to be infected like this certainly not over Bonnie. But she ruptured all of his preconceived notions, splintered his opinions about her uptightness, and aborted all his efforts in ignoring her existence until he needed her for something.

She consumed his every waking thought. When they were separated he literally had to command himself not to hop in his car and go tearing up the city looking for her. She was invariably in one of three locations: school, Elena's, or Caroline's.

From the way he was behaving you'd think _he _was a virgin and she the experienced lover. She never gave off any kind of hint that inside she was a volcano about to explode if he didn't touch her, or look at her. She was always as cool as a cucumber, so dang composed it sickened him immensely.

He wanted her to crack. He wanted Bonnie to show up outside of his door, beg and whimper for him to jab his tongue down her throat and hit it from the back.

But all she gifted him with was indifference and maybe, when no one was looking, a warm expression of gratitude.

He couldn't help but feel used.

But he had been laid by some of the best in the business. However, Damon could admit he felt nothing outside of lust for his prior conquests. With Bonnie things were different because they were…dare he say it…friends, which meant she was a little more special to him than the occasional bar hookup.

Yet he'd never know it from the way she was treating him.

Okay so it had been his idea to keep things between them and neither one had made any promises that things would continue beyond the first night.

In fact, they had fallen asleep for a little cat nap and he woke up to Bonnie pumping his dick back to life. They went at again this time testing out the durability of his desk.

And then, sometime during the night, Bonnie slapped on her clothes, grabbed her belongings and got ghost.

He didn't know how he felt about waking up alone in his bed, his dick stuck to his leg, his sheets and room smelling like sex and musk and Bonnie. He was inclined to write it off as another notch on his belt, but…

It would have been nice to wake up next to her.

"Gotdamnit, Damon," he moaned and stabbed the heel of his hand in his eye. "She's a teenager for Pete's sake, not Jenna freaking Jameson. Move on. Get over her. Because apparently she has."

The front door to the boardinghouse opened and he heard Elena's voice followed by Bonnie's. He moaned again, grabbed a pillow and stuffed it over his face.

That didn't block out the sound of their voices, but he heard footsteps ascending the stairs. Thirty-five paces later, his bedroom door was opening. Ten paces and a figure stood at the foot of his bed.

Her scent infiltrated his lungs triggering memories that he hadn't locked away for good.

His bed, to his surprise, dipped and a warm body, fully clothed unfortunately, sat right on his semi-erection.

A tiny hand pulled the pillow off his face and after a moment, Damon opened his eyes to find laughing green orbs staring down at him.

"Hey, we need to talk. My place tonight. Midnight. Bring the oil."

Chapter end.

**A/N: I made some hard to make edits to this chapter. If you want to read the unedited version of this chapter, I posted it on this other site called Valent Chamber under the same penname. I probably won't be uploading anymore chapters on that site so this story will continue here, although I have reservations about posting this story again because it's so graphic. I was going through a *cough* phase *cough* when I wrote this, that has sense passed. Thanks for reading again, you guys! Love you! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry it's taken a while for me to post. If you've read this story before I had 21 chapters posted earlier this year. I'm re-posting it with major edits, but I want to thank everyone who has re-added this story to your favorites or if you're following it, and of course if you left me a review. Thank you, thank you, thank you!  
**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

Damon nearly pressed the accelerator all the way to the floor as he gunned his way through Mystic Falls. About a million different scenarios on how to kill her ran through his mind and he discarded them all as either being too gory or too merciful because one—she had purposely ignored him for an entire month and two—had the audacity to call him out of the blue to come fetch her from some house party.

What did he look like a taxi service? A designated driver?

Instead of abruptly ending the call like his pride yelled for him to do, Damon sat up in bed, ran a frustrated hand through his tousled hair, and glared at the time on his clock. Was this a prank call? Because if it was he wasn't amused. But it was easy to discern through her slurred speech that Bonnie was intoxicated and liable to do something tremendously stupid.

So he found himself dressing in the dark, thrusting his legs into whatever pair of pants his hands landed on, and throwing a snug black T-shirt over his head. He snatched up his car keys, left the house, and found himself traveling to the outskirts of town.

He didn't even have to stop to ask for directions for which house Bonnie was at. The front of the house looked like a truck stop. That's how many cars were scattered across the lawn. Damon parked his convertible and made his way on foot to the house that was lit up like the Fourth of July.

The place was bursting with inebriated teenagers as he scanned the occupants looking for one in particular.

Girls flitted pass throwing him cross-eyed come hither looks. He wasn't interested. After standing stone still for five minutes he finally spotted Bonnie making her way back inside the central hub of the sprawling two-story house with the infamous red cup in her hand. She tossed back whatever libation was inside, giggled to herself, and began swaying to the music. As prepared as he was to just flash his way over to her, snatch her by the boot straps and yank her out, he merely stood and observed her.

She was relaxed. That was easy to tell from the lazy smile that graced her face which made her look five years younger than her eighteen years. Age was only a number not a barometer for maturity to Damon, so to see the most responsible teenager act so irresponsibly kind of drew him up short.

Yet he continued to watch as she swayed those hips back and forth, remembering how they felt in his hands while he rode her from the back. When she lifted her hands in the air, it caused her dress which hit about mid-thigh to become even shorter revealing the tiny mole that was perhaps five inches down from her snatch.

A tick began in his jaw as Damon soon realized he wasn't the only person admiring Bonnie and her attire or the fact she looked two seconds from passing out.

He moved like a phantom through the crowd and reached Bonnie in nanoseconds. Her eyes were still closed and she continued to dance with her invisible partner. He peered down at her taking note that her makeup was flawless and that her eyelashes fanned against her cheeks. Her full breasts were pushed up thanks to some kind of brassier, and despite the underlining scent of alcohol streaming through her pores, he hinted vanilla and cherry blossoms coming from her skin.

Damon tilted her chin up with his index finger. He didn't smile. He only glowered at her. Bonnie didn't know a single person at this party. Trust, he had gone to enough school functions to know who attended Mystic Falls High and who didn't. Most of these kids looked like they were from the surrounding county and even more appeared to be college-aged. Especially the jocks who were drooling over Bonnie's backside.

Her eyes fluttered open crashing into a pair of angry celestial blues. "Bout time you showed up," she said brusquely.

Damon snorted and stepped away from her. The heat coming from Bonnie was slowly strumming his body to life and he was too pissed and tired to be aroused.

"Get your shit and lets go," he barked and turned around without checking to make sure she followed.

Bonnie stuck her tongue out at the back of his head, found her purse that she had deliberately squeezed between the cushions of the couch and followed after Damon.

The cool air outside stung her skin. So much of it was exposed in the sweetheart neckline mini dress that she futilely wrapped her arms around herself. Damon walked with purposeful strides to his car, climbed in, didn't even open up the passenger side door for her. Bonnie had barely gotten both legs in the car before Damon throttled the engine and tore out of the cul-de-sac going close to seventy miles an hour.

They were silent for while. He kept his eyes on the road. Bonnie kept her eyes on him. She shifted in the seat until her back was pressed up against the door.

Damon gritted his teeth, reached over, and slapped down the lock so she wouldn't go tumbling backwards out of the car.

It was hard not to be aware of one another since they were in such close quarters, but this was the first time in four weeks, thirty-one days where it was just the two of them. Only the two of them. Usually their interactions had been based in group settings where there was always someone around to intervene. They had never discussed that explosive night between them. It was like they each had written it off as one of those weird unexplainable things that happened in Mystic Falls.

Only for Damon as much as he wanted to wash his hands clean of that night, he couldn't. He had had sex with witches before and those times had been thrilling, but having sex with Bonnie put him on a wholly different stratosphere and still he hadn't come back down to earth.

Yet he found it ironic that she would call _him _to come get her from some party she probably had no business attending in the first place.

"You look like there's something you want to say to me," Bonnie broke the crushing silence of the car.

Damon shrugged and let up on the accelerator. He wasn't in the mood to get pulled over or play chicken with the cops.

At first he wasn't going to say anything, but then he briefly looked at her. "What was tonight about? Why were you at some party with a bunch of strangers?"

Now it was Bonnie's turn to shrug. "It seemed like a pretty good idea at the time. I was bored. I was invited by some guy who came into the Grill. So I figured why not. And aren't you the one who's always telling me to get my panties out of their bunch?"

Damon's hand inadvertently tightened on the steering wheel. He began to count off her offenses in his head. She accepted a party invite from some boy band reject. Deliberately got drunk in a possible hostile environment. And then her argument was to make it seem like it was either his fault or his idea for her to act rebelliously.

Those were just the misdemeanors. Next up were the felonies. Did she go with the intentions of seducing and/or sleeping with the boy band reject? And if so was she going to throw her conquest up in his face like he was her bestie looking for a high-five for a job well done?

"Did your panties get un-bunched?" he asked between slightly clenched teeth.

Bonnie laughed airily. "Wouldn't you like to know."

He slammed on the brakes which unfortunately threw her into the dashboard. Bonnie righted herself and even in the dark interior of the car he could see little flames of hatred and anger burn in her orbs.

"The hell Damon! You could have killed me!"

"That's highly doubtful. So lets hear it. Did you grind your ass into some guys crotch tonight?"

Bonnie folded her arms over her chest and lifted her chin in that defiant way he used to think was cute and sexy. Used to.

"Several if you want to be technical about it."

She was asking to get spanked and not in the fun way but in the: you-need-discipline-way.

"You can spare me the lecture, Damon because if I wanted to be lectured I would have asked Caroline or Elena to come pick me up."

Damon had a mind to stick his head in her crotch and start sniffing around to see if he caught another man's scent but even he knew that would be taking things a tad bit too far. Instead he looked her over and very reluctantly began driving again.

_Reckless, stupid, reckless, stupid, _was the mantra that was stuck on repeat in his mind.

"If anyone should have an attitude between us it should be me."

He scoffed. "How do you figure? I pulled my carcass out of the warmth of my bed in the middle of the night to come pick your drunk, ungrateful ass up, and this is the thanks I get."

Bonnie wanted to smack him. Instead she said, "You stood me up!"

Damon was tempted to slam on the brakes again but he didn't. "When?" half of his face lifted in an incredulous sneer.

"When I invited you over to my house you never showed up."

He remembered that. "I didn't stand you up. Liz called me right when I was about to make my way over there. There had been another murder."

Bonnie sucked her teeth, "So you're a detective now?"

And Damon didn't appreciate her condescending tone. "I am when Liz needs me to be."

"Yeah, I'm sure the reason she has you on speed dial is to get your expert advice on building a criminal profile."

At that he had to smirk as he swung his gaze over to Bonnie. "Jealous?"

She rolled her eyes. "You'd like that wouldn't you?"

_What I like doesn't involve clothes_, he wanted to say. "No, what I would like and deserve is an explanation. Why did you want _me _to come and pick you up?"

Bonnie was silent for a while as her eyes roamed over him. The interior of the car wasn't exactly pitch black and the passing streetlights offered some illumination just enough for her to make out his proud jaw, pursed lips, symmetrical nose, but not his eyes though. It had taken every last ounce of her self-control not to throw herself in his arms when she realized that he was standing in front of her back at the party appearing like a jealous and jilted boyfriend. Bonnie felt her womb expand and get semi-drenched especially after he so rudely told her to get her stuff so he could escort her home. But now she didn't want to go home.

After her first time with Damon, Bonnie counseled herself and said that would be the only time she'd give into her weakness. As outraged as she should have been towards her actions, that she slept with her enemy and enjoyed every single sinful moment of it, she didn't have the heart to go through the charade. Damon had effectively knocked down barriers that kept her innate, primal feelings and instincts looked up. He called to her in ways that made absolutely no sense. And shamefully she wanted him, it, them again.

She slid over in the seat and noticed that Damon sat up a bit straighter. However, he kept his eyes on the road.

He tried to show no outward reaction the minute Bonnie pressed up against him, and began running her little fingers through his hair and across the nape of his neck.

"Because when I need you, you always come through for me, Damon," her tone had shifted from the aggressive drunkard to that of seductive vixen. The transition was so seamless that it caused Damon's head to spin.

He cleared his throat before speaking. "Do I look easy to you?"

She smiled, saddled up just a bit closer almost to the point where she was practically sitting on his lap. She rubbed the tip of her nose across his cheek and then caught his right earlobe between her teeth and flicked her tongue against it.

His traitorous dick sprang to life.

"No," she said right into his ear canal. Her voice was like molasses. "I think you're very _hard."_

He gulped thickly.

"You are hard, aren't you Damon?" she smiled and licked his jaw. "You're a hard nut to crack, and even bigger nut to swallow."

He kind of swerved the car at that colorful visualization. Bonnie chuckled just a bit.

"Shut up," he hissed.

In order for that to be possible, Bonnie closed her mouth over his neck while her hand trailed down the center of his chest delighting in the muscles that contracted under her palm. Her fingers then bumped into the button of his pants and quickly flicked it open.

"Bon…" he panted a bit. "I need to…drive."

"You are driving, Damon," she said while suckling his neck. "Do you want me to stop?"

No he didn't but knew that she should. He was the king of using seduction to get himself out of a jam. To have it used on him, had him second-guessing his ability to retain his anger at Bonnie. Nevertheless, if he were honest with himself hadn't he wanted a repeat of their first night together? Essentially he could have it. It just meant he'd have to put his pride aside.

Judging by their current location they were much closer to his house than hers. Decision made, Damon drove like a maniac to the boardinghouse.

Bonnie moaned and hummed, licked, and sucked his neck like a lollipop. She lost her hand down his jeans.

Obscenities floated from his mouth. If only she'd put _hers_ someplace else.

As if reading his mind, Bonnie's head lowered to his crotch. Gulp.

Did the boardinghouse move across town because it shouldn't be taking this long for them to arrive? Finally he saw the steeple roof of his house and parked the car. He sat back for a moment allowing Bonnie's oral skills to play out right before his very eyes, but he reluctantly pulled her up and away from him.

He kissed her hard on the mouth and then blindly exited the car bringing Bonnie with him. Their mouths were fused together as he blindly made his way to the door almost kicking the object open. He flashed to his bedroom.

Bonnie's feet at some point hit the floor and she was being walked backwards over to the bed. Both she and Damon reached for the door to his room to slam shut all the while never breaking their kiss. They bit one another like two wolves in search of dominance. Bonnie tugged his shirt up and over his head and Damon gripped the material of her dress and simply pulled it apart.

The back of her legs crashed into his bed and she merely fell on top of it. Damon took his pants off and kicked them away. He hadn't bothered with putting on a pair of underwear.

Bonnie was still dressed in her nude color bra slash corset with matching bikini panties. He admired her in them for all of two seconds prior to divesting her of them.

Very little foreplay ensued. Bonnie was too drunk but was quickly sobering up to care whereas Damon was too impatient. He had been without her long enough. It was time to end their stalemate.

Damon teased her with his mouth, quickly bringing her to completion almost mercilessly. Bonnie returned the favor with equal fervor until Damon felt he had gone blind from the pleasure that rippled through his body. It was a push and pull, give and receive that volleyed between them well into the night.

There was very little feeling left to Bonnie's limbs. As far as she was concerned her bones had been liquefied, consolidated, and sold off to the highest bidder. She crawled on her hands and knees and then looked over her shoulder at Damon. His entire chin, the tip of his nose and lips were covered with her special sauce.

Her arms giving out, Bonnie dropped to the bed kind of spread eagle.

"I'm not done with you yet," Damon determined as he grabbed Bonnie by the ankle and pulled her to him where she half-heartedly attempted to scramble away. Her protest died when she felt him impaling her again.

**Hours later **Bonnie's eyes snapped open. Her heart pounded like an African drum and the world around her spun. Her mouth tasted like it was stuffed with cotton and her body was sore in places that instantly brought back memories of her night with Damon.

Presently he was laid out on his back while she used his arm as a pillow. He looked really peaceful and as much as she didn't want to leave him, the fear and anxiety of dealing with his surly personality prompted her to very tentatively sneak out of bed.

Bonnie eyed him as she lifted the covers off her body and slid away in small increments that she felt she wasn't moving at all. One leg dangled off the side of the bed, and she very carefully slid out her right leg and fell sideways to the floor. She bit her lip between her teeth and stilled hoping that the soft thud of her feet making contact with the floor wasn't loud enough to rouse Damon.

His chest wasn't moving because vampires didn't need to breathe, and he hadn't moved a single muscle. For a moment she simply found herself transfixed that he would be the man destined to please her in ways that defied belief. They argued like cats and dogs, constantly said things to get one another's goat, yet when it mattered and counted they had each other's back. Many would say those were the ingredients to an awesome relationship recipe but…

Bonnie didn't want to invest herself too deeply because in the back of her mind, she figured that Damon's heart invariably belonged to someone else.

But this would be one thing Elena could never dangle over her head. She may have kissed Damon, and they may have been willing to sacrifice their own safety and lives for the other, but she hadn't shared his body, hadn't been burned by his insatiable hunger and passion.

Then her thoughts took an equally nasty trajectory once more. Caroline had slept with Damon, but then he had used compulsion on her so she wasn't totally in control of all of her actions.

Bonnie was the only one who could outright say she had experienced Damon, the unfiltered and unadulterated version of him.

The chill of his room caused her nipples to stiffen yet she ignored the stimulation and searched the floor for something to throw on. Her dress had been destroyed and lay forgotten on the floor like a rag. In the semi-darkness of the room, she spotted Damon's shirt, threw it on, and then tippy-toed her way to the door.

Luckily none of the floorboards tattled on her by groaning under her weight. She continued to hold her breath even once she grabbed a hold of the doorknob, turned it, and then cautiously opened it.

Out of nowhere a pale white hand shot past her head and slammed the door shut, and then that same hand grabbed Bonnie by the shoulder, spun her around, and pinned her against the door.

Her heart roared in her ears.

"Where are you going?" Damon demanded.

Bonnie sputtered, "Ah…home."

His lip curled. "Have you forgotten you didn't drive over here last night?"

Bonnie blinked the sleep out of her eyes and thought for a moment. "Oh, right."

"Get back in bed, Bonnie."

"Can't you take me home?"

"I'll take you home after you get back in bed, sleep, and wake up in the morning like a normal person."

Not wanting to hear anymore of her ridiculous excuses, Damon threw Bonnie over his shoulder, stomped back over to his bed where he flung her on it. He joined her on the bed and wrapped her in his arms and silenced her with a quick kiss on the mouth.

This all happened so fast she couldn't get a coherent thought formed to cuss him out.

**Later that same day **Damon sat across from Bonnie at an outside patio table at the Grill. It was an unseasonably warm day for March the forecast calling for a high of sixty-eight degrees, and a sunny and clear sky. But he sat across from her wearing a pair of shades concealing his gaze while he observed her as she enjoyed lunch while sandwiched between Alaric and Stefan.

Sitting to Damon's left was Elena and next to her was Caroline.

Bonnie reached for the last breadstick at the same time Stefan reached for it. Their fingers bumped into one another and they smiled almost shyly at one another.

"Ladies, first," Stefan abdicated.

"No, you can have it. I really shouldn't eat anymore."

"No, I insist," he persisted.

Bonnie picked up the breadstick and broke it in half. "We'll share it."

Damon rolled his eyes at the sweet exchange. Yuck.

He tuned out the sounds of the mind-numbing conversations that were buzzing around him and focused his sole attention on Bonnie. She had dressed appropriately for the weather, showing off her muscular arms in a beaded tank top that she styled with a pair of fashionably ripped jeans. Her hair as always was wavy and lifted occasionally off her caramel shoulders when a strong breeze blew. And from the looks of things she wore minimal makeup—not that she needed it.

She hadn't, like always, said much to him when everyone arrived at Mystic Grill for lunch. She had hugged her two best friends enthusiastically as if she hadn't wasted a majority of the morning yapping away with the both of them on the phone. But that was chicks for you. Even if they went two seconds without seeing each other they all hugged one another to death when they were together. She had waved at Alaric and Stefan and with him, merely compressed her lips into a smile that lasted for half a second.

Again, he wasn't bothered per se about her detachment because he liked the secrecy of their…relationship…dalliance? Because if they spilled the beans that twice now they've slept together—okay if he tabulated how many times during those two nights they were together—he and Bonnie had already had sex nine times, he'd hear nothing but sanctimonious lectures from every single person at the table.

But Damon felt things changing on the inward parts of himself. And he experienced these feelings before with Katherine and again with Elena. However, what he was feeling towards Bonnie was altogether frightening.

Whatever he was feeling was beginning to infiltrate every single part of him like a spider's web; there'd be no digging or climbing out for Damon—at least for a while.

"Hey Bonnie, we're going to go see _The Vow _do you want to come?"

Damon broke himself out of his reverie to tune back into the conversation. He eyed Bonnie through his dark shades.

"Ah, I can't. I have a date with the twins tonight."

_Twins? What twins? What do they look like and where do they live? Because tonight somebody will be making a special trip to the morgue. _Those thoughts shamefully ran through his mind.

Caroline looked nostalgic for a moment. "You haven't seen them in forever."

Bonnie smiled warmly in return. "I know."

Damon cleared his throat which didn't exactly draw the attention to himself that he had hoped for.

"I figured I could make this one concession," Bonnie went on to say. She paused because she could practically feel Damon's glare on her. On the inside she giggled. "There are these boots I want from Christian Loubontin but Daddy cut me off financially speaking."

"Why?" Elena asked.

"Because I might have ordered three thousand dollars worth of stuff from La Perla."

Damon's eyebrows lifted over the rim of his shades. She had ordered three thousand dollars in skimpy lingerie and he hadn't seen a nickel or dime of it? This was grossly unfair but then he wondered what did any of this have to do with her date with "the twins"? Was she planning on wearing said lingerie for their benefit when he was the one, who not even twenty-four hours ago, was making her scream out in Swahili.

"On that note I'm going to get a refill," Alaric quickly fled the table. Bonnie blushed. She kind of forgot sometimes that Ric was her teacher yet they spent so much time together after school, the lines of an appropriate student/teacher dynamic were constantly blurred.

Elena and Caroline shared the same shocked expression. But it was Elena who asked, "How in the world did you do that?"

Bonnie plucked a fry in her mouth and with an iron will kept her eyes off Damon. "I may have been intoxicated and feeling a bit passive aggressive because my dad broke another promise that he'd stay home with me for the weekend. He left his American Express and it was all she wrote. But now I want those boots and this is the only avenue of achieving them."

By going out with twins? was on the tip of Damon's tongue. There was no way Bonnie was an escort and would pimp herself out to the highest bidder. If that were the case he'd sign all of his credit cards over to her because there was no way in hell he was going to share her. With anybody!

Caroline, however, was only interested in the most important thing. "What kind of boots are they? Booties or traditional knee-length?"

"Thigh high."

_Fuck_! Damon thought as he envisioned Bonnie dressed in a pair of thigh high boots while wearing one of her lingerie pieces from La Perla. Was she trying to give him an aneurysm without giving him an aneurysm? He shifted a bit in his seat because all the blood in his body was being redirected to one specific area.

Something caught Bonnie's attention and her smile brightened considerably. The tick in Damon's jaw only became more prominent and persistent.

"Here they come," Bonnie announced and rose from her table. "Hey boys!"

"Bonnie!" two semi-high pitched voices cried out. Bonnie dropped to her haunches as two seven year old boys with band-aids covering their knees and elbows approached her and launched themselves into her outstretched arms.

Damon relaxed considerably.

"You both have gotten so big since the last time I saw you."

One of the little tikes pulled up the sleeve of his short-sleeved shirt and flexed his muscle. "Here's the best part, I got muscles."

Bonnie made a grand showing of how impressed she was with the little protruding bicep. "You're so strong, Jensen," she winked at the boy who beamed proudly showing he was missing several teeth.

Bonnie turned away from them to make formal introductions. "Everyone this is Jensen and Jared. Boys these are my friends: Caroline, Elena, Damon, and Stefan."

As everyone said hello a gorgeous woman who kind of reminded Damon of Lucy strolled up to Bonnie. Damon watched as they embraced as if they were lifelong friends.

"I'm so glad you could babysit on such short notice. David and his partners always find some clever way to get together just so they can drink like the alcoholics they are," she sniffed yet Bonnie could tell that Amelia wasn't too bothered by the idea of dressing up and getting away from her kids for a few hours.

"It's no problem, Amelia. I've missed hanging out with those two."

"They're more of a handful now. Especially since they started karate. I don't know how many fights I've had to break up in the last six weeks. Their pediatrician is sick of seeing them."

Jensen the one who was so proud of his muscles, tapped Bonnie on the leg to garner her attention. She looked down at him.

"I can almost break a brick with my hand."

_Yeah_, Damon thought, _and it looked like you've been gnawing on one with your teeth_.

"Mom," Jared finally spoke up for the first time. "Can we ride home with Bonnie?"

Amelia looked prepared to tell her son no, but Bonnie hopped in. "It's all right, if it's fine with you."

And naturally this sparked both boys to start jumping up and down begging their mother to let them ride in something other than a minivan.

"Okay, fine," Amelia agreed. "But you two still have to get your haircut. Come on."

"I'll meet you at the shop," Bonnie said and waved goodbye to her two charges. Bonnie reached for her purse. "All right guys, I'll see you later."

"Bye Bon, call me," Elena and Caroline said at the same time.

And just as she turned around she ran into a hard chest. Bonnie's eyes climbed up the body until they crashed into a familiar pair of dark brown eyes.

"Jeremy!"

His smile was slow and disarming as he reached for Bonnie, wrapping her up in his arms and swinging her around.

Damon's grip around his beer bottle tightened until it splintered and the piss yellow liquid began to leak from the crack. Stefan looked over at his brother—speculating.

As Damon looked around the table only he and Bonnie seemed to be the only two people surprised to see him. So this was planned?

"I'll take that as you missed me?" he asked once he sat Bonnie on the ground again but didn't drop his hands from around her waist.

Damon was barely keeping himself together.

Bonnie diplomatically put some distance between herself and her ex-boyfriend. She nodded her head but did not answer out loud whether she missed him, not when she was consciously aware of the audience she was standing in front of.

"When did you get back?" she asked and licked her lips nervously.

"This morning. I wanted to surprise you so I asked Ric and Elena not to tell you I was back in town."

"So you're just visiting for the weekend?"

Jeremy shook his head and then flashed that shy half-smile of his. "No, I decided that Mystic Falls is where I need to be. Besides…I left something very important behind. I have to get it back."

If it was possible for vampires to suffer with high blood pressure, someone would be calling an ambulance for Damon because he would have been laid out on the sidewalk having a stroke. That's how livid he was! So this little twerp, piece of unfaithful shit came back to Mystic Falls with the intentions of winning Bonnie back? Hun? He was going to have a hard time doing that without a heart in his chest or a head on his shoulders if he so much as touched her.

Bonnie gulped nervously having deciphered his undercover meaning. "Jer…"

"I know we have a lot we need to talk about so let's catch up. And this is asking a lot but are you busy tonight?"

"I am. I have to babysit." And if everything isn't completely sabotaged maybe get laid.

If he was disappointed Jeremy didn't let it show. "That's cool. Whenever you're available just let me know."

Bonnie smiled tightly and said her goodbye's yet again. She was off.

**Bonnie showed up at the boardinghouse **close to one o'clock in the morning. The front door was once again unlocked, and Stefan much to her happiness was nowhere to be found. Several lights were on giving off the impression that someone was home. She knew that Damon was since his car was still parked in the driveway so more than likely he was somewhere inside.

She began with the most obvious place—his bedroom.

Part of her wondered if she was being too presumptuous in their relationship by assuming he wouldn't mind her randomly coming into his home without at least ascertaining if he was alone. But Bonnie was secure in the fact Damon wasn't one to see the same woman for more than a few dates before his attention span waned or she died.

That didn't stop her from climbing the steps or entering his bedroom to find there was a fire going, and candles were lit all throughout.

Her eyes landed on the bed which was perfectly made. It was hard to believe that just twenty-four hours ago the sheets were half hanging on, along with the mattress, and that his headboard had somehow disconnected from the frame of the bed.

She heard water sloshing in the bathtub and followed the sounds where she found Damon engulfed in fluffy white bubbles. A bottle of champagne rested at the foot of the tub and the vampire in question sipped from a glass.

Bonnie casually leaned up against the threshold and crossed her arms over her chest. She raked her eyes appreciatively over him. His obsidian hair was slicked back off his forehead and she could spot flesh through several gaps in the bubbles.

"I'm surprised to see you here," he said and finished off the drop of champagne that was left.

"Are you really?"

Damon nodded his head and sat the glass down on the floor. He reclined in the tub until his head rested against the back of it. It was a good thing he was immersed because his traitorous body wanted to show how happy he really was that Bonnie came to him of her own free will.

After she left and Jeremy took her seat at the table, Damon very suavely questioned the boy on his intentions. This left Damon feeling bemused like he was a concerned parent rather than a…

Bonnie's voice broke his train of thought—thankfully. "I can leave if you want to be alone."

He quirked his lips in disapproval. "Join me."

Bonnie made no move as if she heard the invitation. "You sure?"

"I wouldn't have put it out there if I didn't want you in this tub with me. Now strip."

Her nostrils flared at the brusque command but felt she partly deserved it. She had given him sharper commands than that the other night.

Bonnie dropped her crossed arms until her fingers caught the hem of her shirt. She pulled it up revealing the demi-cup bra underneath. She kept her eyes on him as she slid off her jeans, kicked off her boots and argyle socks, undid the hook in her bra, and ended the strip tease with turning around and bending over as she removed her underwear.

Damon cleared his throat as his dick hardened to concrete proportions. Bonnie turned back around and strutted over to the tub where Damon lifted a hand towards her to assist her inside. She straddled his hips and enjoyed the feel of his hard rod pressing between her cheeks.

They stared seriously at one another. "What are we doing, Damon?"

"Why do humans insist on putting labels on everything? We're having fun." Pause. "Are you going to get back together with skippy?"

Bonnie couldn't help it, she chuckled just a little bit. She shook her head. "That ship has sailed, my friend. You know the adage…"

"Once a cheater always a cheater," he finished.

"I hate to generalize him like that, but he broke my heart. And besides…I think I might be crazy about someone else. And you can't have three people in a relationship, no matter how twisted it is."

Damon, who was known the world over for being emotive, but to hear him tell it he was just overly passionate about things, tried his best not to smile at Bonnie's confession that she was crazy about him. If he were inclined to ask a million questions like his baby brother, he'd waste valuable time where he could be fucking her to figure out how and why things got on the course they were currently on. But it was comforting to know he wasn't as alone on this ride that he thought he was.

Wordlessly their lips sought out the other and crashed into a familiar dance that was both titillating and needed. Damon prided himself on not needing anyone to get through his day-to-day activities, but when he was separated from Bonnie some foreign part of him felt like it was missing and the picture only became complete whenever she was near.

It was like that before they started sleeping together.

Bonnie for her part reveled in the fact she could totally and wholly be herself when she was with Damon. She never had to hold her tongue or sugarcoat her feelings in order to spare someone else's. Sure he might have been tired of people using him as a personal punching bag both figuratively and literally, but their paradigm had always been different.

At the end of the day they respected each other. Maybe not trusted each other with their lives, but they were close to being there.

Damon stood up from the tub bringing Bonnie with him who wrapped her legs around his torso. He transferred his lips to that special spot in her neck that immediately beamed a message to her channel to get ready, and it did. She was instantaneously wet and he barely even touched her. One look from him could set her loins on fire.

He laid her down on a blanket that had been set up in front of the fireplace that Bonnie failed to notice was there when she first entered his room. She wiggled against its softness as she spread her legs to accommodate his weight. Their lips met, tongues circled one another as his clever hands got missing. She hissed in pleasure and arched her chest into him which he capitalized it by taking a pert nipple in his mouth to tease.

No matter how many times they did this, it never got old to Bonnie, who boldly reached between their bodies, took hold of his turgid erection, running her fingernails over his flesh, making the appendage jump in glee.

He entered her in one long smooth motion, felt her slick heat envelope him like a glove. Damon went wild licking across Bonnie's jutting chin, capturing her lips in a bruising kiss as he thrust in and out of her like a pro.

Bonnie found leverage by grabbing on to an ass cheek. Her free hand was entwined with his as she peeled her clamped eyes open to find Damon staring down at her.

Silently he was asking her a very important question. "Not until I'm about to cum," she panted and jerked.

All too soon her climax was building and Bonnie had hoped to hold out a little while longer, but with Damon expertly moving his hips and continuously hitting that notorious spot, her end was inevitable.

"Close?" he asked and grunted. Twice now he had to mentally focus his thoughts elsewhere or things would have ended in two minutes flat. No one woman on earth should feel this damn good. Being inside Bonnie was the equivalent to being blown, getting a hand job, and being caressed by a feather at the same time.

"Ahhhhhhh," Bonnie cried out seeing stars behind her eyes.

Damon took that as his cue. His fangs elongated, and he injected them into her neck. Bonnie made a guttural noise, tensed, jerked as if she were shocked, and came again.

After the first drop of her blood hit the back of his throat, Damon unleashed his load into Bonnie—his body as tight as a guitar string. He didn't take much of her blood, too afraid she'd freak out but it took a huge effort on his part to stop.

He licked all traces of blood from the wound, opened up a vein on his wrist and positioned it over Bonnie's mouth. Her gaze however was focused on the fireplace.

At first she resisted. She was still contracting around him experiencing mini orgasms that it hadn't exactly clicked in her mind that Damon just fed off her.

Finally becoming cognizant of his offering, Bonnie clamped her lips around his bleeding wrist. While she drank, Damon placed butterfly kisses along her neck.

He was hardening again inside of her. "You're my new addiction, Bennett, and you better get used to it."

Chapter end.

**A/N: I had to do some tricky editing with this chapter. I've debated if I wanted to re-post this story or not because of the simple fact it had A LOT of lemons. So we'll see how this all goes and that hopefully the central idea of the story won't be lost. Thanks for your patience in waiting for an update. Until next time...love you.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi everyone. I know some have asked if I could post the original copy of this story back up, see the ending author's note for a more elaborate explanation on why I had to make edits to this. Other than that, thank you for reading and for your patience. Enjoy. **

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

"I'm going to try her again." Elena held up her cell phone to her ear and patiently listened as the line rang, rang, and rang. She stared up at the ceiling for a second and exhaled deeply when Bonnie's automated voice mail kicked on. She hung up.

"She's still not answering," she said to those who had assembled in the Salvatore living room. Her eyes zeroed on Damon's back as he examined several books that were lined across the antique desks. For weeks he had been distant towards her, which she speculated was brought on by the fact she rudely told him that loving her was a problem. Yet Elena figured by now they would have made some type of amends and end this…awkwardness between them, but not necessarily fall back into their pattern.

That didn't happen.

She had the sneaky suspicion that Damon was seeing someone but Elena highly doubted it was Rebekah because the woman was still kind of intent on killing her. And more than likely she would have rubbed her couplings with Damon like a brillo pad against skin in her face.

Nothing of the sort occurred.

And as much as Elena wanted to go up and question if everything was kosher, she felt it was no longer her place to do so. But whoever he was involved with, this was the most mellow she had ever seen Damon and call it her adjustment period she wasn't exactly sure how to handle it.

Damon kept his back to the crowd that had assembled mainly because he was busy texting. And all of his texts were being purposely ignored. He gritted his teeth and balled his cell phone up in his hand as the minutes ticked off the clock and Bonnie had yet to give him a status update on her estimated time of arrival. He brushed off that itchy feeling inside that demanded he go out and look for her, because if she were in some kind of trouble…well they wouldn't know it until it was too late.

"She'll be here soon," Caroline chimed in, as optimistic as ever.

Just as she predicted the front door opened and Bonnie sailed inside armed with her huge purse and her grimoire tucked under her arm.

Jeremy, who despite several protests that he stay out of the developing situation involving a stream of unsolved murders, had persisted that he wanted to attend the brainstorming meeting. It was his sister who was being implicated and felt he had every right to be there if not for moral support.

Alaric didn't see a problem with it. He had firsthand experience in willfully omitting pertinent facts all in the namesake of protecting someone. It always blew up in their faces.

Bonnie looked apologetic as she wove her way pass furniture to take a seat on the end of the couch next to Caroline, where she promptly propped her feet on the coffee table.

Damon chose that moment to turn around yet kept his expression totally neutral. He merely raked Bonnie with his eyes infinitesimally nodding his approval of her attire. She was dressed in a black military inspired pea coat. Her legs were enshrined in a fashionable pair of black sheer stockings which had embroidered detail racing up the side. And her small feet were arched in four inch heels.

Bonnie rested her head against the back of the couch. "Sorry I'm late. The Young Ambassadors meeting ran later than usual. So what's going on?"

Elena began to fill her in on what they were hoping she'd be able to find. Bonnie listened intently at the long list of demands being heaped on her, which meant she would be pouring through all the grimoires in her possession along with conducting hours and hours of Internet research. When were they going to learn that she was a witch not a magician where she couldn't just pull an answer or quick and easy solution out of a top hat? Whoever was responsible for the murders was out of their realm of experience, so finding some way to counterattack whatever was going on was going to take more than forty-five minutes to solve.

Real detective work took weeks and in most cases months. Yet Bonnie was fully aware of the timetable; that she didn't have a lot of time because people kept being killed, and all the murder weapons had Elena's DNA on them.

Bonnie's eyes ventured over to Stefan who kind of remained in the shadows during these meetings, not really offering any type of input. She was well aware of the fact he was struggling with rediscovering himself. Stefan had several weaknesses and one of them he had to look at everyday. However, she felt he was going about finding his equilibrium the wrong way.

He was abstaining from blood. Blood had fueled all of his base instincts and passions and also his insanity. Yet it was also making him weaker. She could tell just by his color alone—he was ghost white, and from the flatness to his eyes, that he was one Roger Rabbit away from snapping.

"Stefan…are you okay?" she asked before she could stop or censor herself.

Curious eyes launched on the vampire who looked shocked and perplexed that someone would inquire about him.

He hunched his shoulders. "I'm fine."

Not acceptable, Bonnie wanted to say and then her eyes moved over to Damon who was busy looking at his brother. When he felt Bonnie looking at him, he focused the power of his electric blue eyes on her, and smirked.

Elena watched the exchange wondering what silent conversation was taking place.

"I'm going to get something to eat," Bonnie announced. She unbuttoned her jacket, revealing her long-sleeved thigh hugging black dress, and sauntered off to the kitchen.

The way she moved her body, like a panther stalking in the jungle, shamelessly held all the men's attention. It took a minute for Damon to unglue his eyes from the globes of her ass to glare at his brother, Alaric—who should know better—and Jeremy.

He didn't make a pretense or show of the fact he was following after her to confront her, as he too made his way to the kitchen. Damon had gotten used to their arrangement yet it still pricked him that whenever they were together in public they had to act indifferently towards one another. Oh, they might have been able to sneak in a heated glance or two, but that was it. There was a strict no-touching policy that was in effect until further notice and at the rate they were going, Damon wasn't sure when it would be eradicated.

Damon stepped into the kitchen where Bonnie was buried waist deep in the Sub-Zero refrigerator. He and Stefan didn't spend a whole lot of time in the kitchen. It's only use was the microwave which Damon used to heat up his blood. Otherwise it was pretty left much vacant.

But since he and Bonnie frequently got together for one of their marathon romps, Damon kept a few things she liked to eat stored in the fridge and pantry. If Stefan noticed, he was prudent enough not to say anything and to overall mind his business.

Bonnie eyed her choices—there weren't many and decided she'd snack on a bowl of cherries and strawberry mix, and grabbed a bottle of water. But right before she was about to close the door a can of Redi Whip caught her attention. She confiscated it and kicked the door close with her foot.

Naturally she jumped because Damon happened to be standing right there.

"Yes?" Bonnie asked.

He grinned, took the items that were in her hands and placed them on the kitchen island. Bonnie soundlessly watched and then found herself pressed chest-to-chest with Damon as he wrapped his muscular arms around her and lowered his head.

Their mouths fused together like magnets while Bonnie slid her arms around Damon to rest her hands on his shoulders. He flicked his tongue along the seam of her lips which prompted Bonnie to open wide. Damon took advantage and slid his tongue in her mouth which Bonnie began to massage with her own. Heat began to pool in her lower extremities and she felt Damon hardening against her. He shifted until his burgeoning erection pressed against her belly, yet he bent his knees until he was able to fit himself right against her center.

He ran his hands over her backside and massaged her cheeks before dropping them lower so he could work them under her dress. He slithered his hand between her thighs and ran his fingers along the seam of her mound. Bonnie moaned.

Feeling inspired, Bonnie stuck a hand between them and ran it over the very noticeable tent in his jeans.

Damon groaned a little in approval. "Damn, I wish we were alone," he mumbled against her lips. Bonnie could do nothing more than whimper.

"You can always kick them out," she suggested. All the blood in her body was being directed in so many different directions it was hard to keep up. One minute she felt it all in her crotch and in the next second the pleasure/pain was in her nipples, and ended its chaotic journey in her head.

Damon had a better idea. "Or we could start an argument. You can storm out and I'll pretend to leave to go have a drink at the Grill, and then we can meet up for some fun time."

Bonnie had moved her lips to nibble his neck. "Sounds like a viable plan." Their lips joined again to seal the deal.

After a moment Damon reluctantly stopped kissing her and gazed down at Bonnie who still had her eyes closed.

"Why didn't you respond to any of my texts?"

Her eyes popped open and Bonnie stepped out of his arms to establish a neutral zone. She pulled her dress down to cover her assets back up again.

"I was busy," she answered plainly.

"Too busy to reply to _one _of my text messages?"

Bonnie's laugh was dry. "Aside from the fact you're worse than a bloodhound, you knew I was safe."

"Sorry but I recall someone lecturing me on not assuming anything," he pointedly glared at her. "So no, Bonnie I can't say for a hundred percent sure that you were safe."

"Look, Damon I think we need to establish some boundaries."

He was affronted. "Why? I like things the way they are."

"So do I, but you can't know my every move. I'm not going to suddenly vanish into thin air if I don't check in with you every second of the day. You knew where I was because I told you where I was going to be. And I told you I might be late."

He saddled up next to Bonnie and rubbed circles on her back. "You can't fault me for wanting to know where you are especially in a town this bad where you've been on more than one hit list over the past year."

She looked up at him. "I know. And thank you for worrying about me. It just wasn't necessary in this situation."

Damon abruptly moved away from Bonnie causing her to frown. Not a second later the kitchen door swung open and Jeremy strolled in.

"Everything okay in here?"

Bonnie threw him a quick smile. "We're good."

Jeremy nodded his head. He looked at Damon. "Could you give us a minute? I need to speak to Bonnie."

"Hell no. This is my kitchen."

Bonnie shook her head and picked up her items. "Can it wait until later, Jer? We are kind of in the middle of something."

No, he didn't want to wait until later but knew he didn't have much of a choice. So he gave in to her request.

Jeremy, always the gentleman, opened the door for Bonnie and he happily followed after her. Damon growled lowly in his throat and after a moment strolled back to the living room.

Once he got there Bonnie had taken it upon herself to sit on the desk that doubled as his work table. She had pushed his books off to the side to make room for herself. He stood back and watched as she sprayed whipped cream on the triangular tip of a strawberry and bit into it.

He clenched his teeth on top of one another as she devoured the fruit emitting little sounds of pleasure. She chased the strawberry with a cherry, also dipping it into whipped cream, only this time she held her head back and dangled the fruit by the stem before depositing it in her mouth.

Damon shifted a bit on his feet as his stirrings of arousal were renewed.

Alaric cleared his throat and continued the discussion on possible suspects and motives for why anyone would want to frame Elena.

"She's the doppelganger," Bonnie timed in. "More than likely whoever is targeting her knows that. Maybe its someone who used to be in Klaus camp that he betrayed and to pay him back, he's going after Elena only instead of killing her, is trying to make her into another target one where she can lose her life behind bars."

The room was silent as everyone mulled over Bonnie's speculation.

Damon naturally had to be the one to shut it down. "Yeah, but why go through all of that trouble when they can just kill her? What would be the point?"

Elena kind of bristled. No matter how much death she saw and experienced it still disturbed her to hear someone talk so casually about her dying.

"Power," Bonnie answered simply. "More than likely this is something personal but is being executed in a very random way. When I look at things on paper what I see is someone with a grudge. The question is, is the grudge towards Elena or is she just the scapegoat?"

If he could kiss her brain Damon would. Next to himself, of course, Bonnie had the most intelligence.

Suddenly her phone began to ring. He snorted at her ringtone—Who's That Chick.

Bonnie hopped off the desk and rifled through her purse once she reached her bag. "Hello? Hey Sean." She listened and so did Damon. Bonnie started rifling through her purse again. "Yeah, hang on. I got it right here. Just let me know when you're ready," she waited and then rattled off a telephone number. She smiled before concluding the conversation. "You, too. Bye."

She didn't have the chance to put her phone away before it rang again. "Hey, Kyle."

Kyle? How many dudes had Bonnie's phone number? Damon would find out and put a stop to it. ASAP.

"I can't right now because I'm in another meeting. I'll call you when I'm finished and then we can look over the project proposal. Yeah, the bookstore on Third Avenue sounds good. Text me the time. All right, bye." She clicked off the phone. "Sorry."

And before she had the chance to put it away, Damon yanked her phone out of her hands, snapped the back off and took out the battery which he pocketed. He tossed her dismantled phone back at her.

Bonnie's jaw went slack and then snapped closed in anger. She held out her hand imperiously. "Give me back my battery, Damon."

He appeared as if he were in deep thought over her request before saying, "Ah, no."

"I'm not playing with you," Bonnie said lowly and filled with threat.

"Damon, stop being a dick and give Bonnie her stuff back," Jeremy attempted at being heroic. Damon didn't even waste his time looking at him.

"We're in the middle of something," he said to Bonnie. "And we don't need all these pointless distractions. Tell your fan club not to call you when you have witchy stuff to do at my house."

"You don't own me, Damon."

He leaned close to Bonnie and whispered in her ear. "I have it on good authority that your twat has my name tattooed all over it." And to drive his point home, he flicked his tongue against her earlobe.

_Not fair, _Bonnie inwardly groaned. They were supposed to be "fake fighting" not trying to turn each other on.

Bonnie pushed him away, eyes narrowed into slits as she said, "I'm telling you for the last time, _give me my battery back." _

"Nope."

And the next thing he knew, Damon was being thrown sideways into the nearest wall.

Stefan muttered under his breath. "You never learn, Damon."

Elena stood up from her perch and attempted to intervene before things turned more violent. Caroline just sat back and watched the action which she lovingly dubbed The Bamon Show.

Damon attempted to peel himself off the wall—couldn't move. He glared at Bonnie the moment he realized she was purposely keeping him pinned against it.

"Yeah, I haven't forgotten how to do that," she reassured him as she approached. Very, extremely lowly she said to him, "Do you know the wicked things I could do to you in this position."

He allowed himself one cocky smile. "Doesn't matter because you're not getting your battery back. We need your full and absolute attention on this, Judgey."

Bonnie rolled her eyes and then held her palm up lifting Damon a bit higher against the wall. "Stop calling me that ridiculous name. Battery. Now. Damon. I'm not going to say it again."

He chose to remain obstinate. "If you're going to threaten me the least you could do is follow it up with some pain. Right now I'm just hanging on the wall like a picture."

Bonnie's smirk became dangerous. "Pain it is you want, pain it is you get." She lifted her hand up and Damon went catapulting higher until his head crashed through the ceiling. He kicked his legs wildly as chunks of the ceiling came crashing down to the floor.

Someone gasped whereas others chuckled. Damon reached into his back pocket, retrieved the battery, and dropped it.

Bonnie caught it. "Nice doing business with you." And she wasn't gentle in letting him down, merely released him and he fell unceremoniously to the floor.

He groaned and grimaced once his body made impact. Elena rushed to his side and tried to help him to his feet. He didn't stop her and Bonnie watched as her best friend fawned all over him. Damon was a vampire for goodness sake, they didn't hurt for long.

"Damon, are you okay?" she gripped him by the bicep and attempted to pull him to his feet. Once Damon was on his legs although a bit wobbly, he brushed dust off his black shirt.

"I'm fine," he glared murderously at Bonnie who was in the process of putting her phone back together.

"I'm done with Damon and his childishness," she said and collected her stuff. "I'm out."

"Come on, Bonnie, don't leave," Caroline tried to get her friend to see reason.

"No, I need to go. Besides I have something else I need to do. See you all later."

"Hey, let me walk you out," Jeremy jumped up from his seat and followed Bonnie who didn't stop to wait for him as she headed towards the front door.

Damon allowed this because in order to sell it he very well couldn't be seen sniffing after Bonnie like a lost puppy in a pet store.

Alaric watched Damon as he dejectedly headed for the stairs. "And here I thought the two of you had worked out all of your differences."

"Bite me, Ric. I need a drink."

**Bonnie deactivated **her car alarm and threw her purse and grimoire on the passenger seat. She straightened to her full height the moment she turned around to face Jeremy.

Whenever she had to deal with him she tried to think of the good times they had. Sadly there weren't many. Their relationship wasn't built on the foundation of love but out of the need of having someone around to negate loneliness. And along the way her feelings of friendship and admiration towards him morphed into love.

Gravelly, it wouldn't be until later that Bonnie realized it had been one-sided.

Jeremy stuffed his hands in his pockets despite wanting to reach out and graze her cheek like he did on the night he first tried to kiss her. It was that night he admitted his feelings for Bonnie to her and to himself.

"There's so much I want to say to you," he began. "Things were kind of left unresolved between us."

"Jeremy there was nothing unresolved between us. You knew where I stood on your cheating. I mean, yeah I didn't want you to move to Denver…but it was for the best."

"Bon, I'm not trying to rehash the bad between us, but…I've grown and matured. When we were together there was always some crisis that had to be solved that didn't leave us much time to have the kind of relationship we were supposed to have…"

"Jer…I'm at a place where I'm satisfied with my life. It's complicated enough," and boy was it. Screwing your attempted murderer would be complicated for anyone. "And I rather not go down this road with you."

He rocked on his heels. "I understand. But I do want to say this because I never said it before, but I'm sorry, Bonnie. I'm sorry that I broke us, and that I hurt you. I wish I could take back what I did, but I can't and it's a decision I deeply regret."

She was touched by his apology but not exactly moved. "Thanks, Jeremy. It means a lot to hear you say that."

Jeremy gifted her with that shy half-smile that used to give her butterflies. Suddenly her face was being cupped by a warm palm and pale pink lips brushed against her cheek.

Bonnie jumped a bit by the contact but said nothing as Jeremy leaned back, searching her eyes for some kind of reaction. When he didn't find what he was looking for, he dropped his hand, and took a step back.

"I'd still like to have lunch sometime," he said. "But if you don't want to, I'll understand. Good night, Bonnie."

She said nothing. Only watched him walk away.

**If Damon had adamantium claws **he would have taken great pleasure in hacking Jeremy's Mini Cooper to pieces in order to reach the creamy middle and dismember the boy. He stood in front of the window feeling like Norman Bates as he eavesdropped on Bonnie and Jeremy's conversation. He had hoped that Bonnie would just spill the beans and say "No Jeremy there's no way in hell I'd take you back because I'm fucking the best thing to ever happen to me, and his name is Damon Salvatore."

Of course things did not go down that way. They were polite, sickeningly so, but what really pushed him over the edge was watching the little nerd kiss Bonnie.

Sure it might have been a peck on the cheek but Jeremy's lips had no business being on her body. Anywhere! He and Bonnie might be fake arguing now, but it would turn into the real McCoy if she didn't put a stop to Jeremy's future attempts.

"I don't know who you think you're fooling."

Damon rolled his eyes and pivoted on his feet to face his brother. He gifted him with a disinterested look.

"Not that I care, but what are you talking about, Stefan?"

Stefan who was leaning casually against the threshold pushed away and entered the second floor study room.

"The fact you and Bonnie are fucking."

Damon was a bit taken aback.

Stefan peered out the window his brother had been gazing out and caught Bonnie driving off. "I can smell her all over you, Damon, and…I hear when you attempt to sneak her in at night. Please don't censor yourself on my behalf. But you know it'll only be a matter of time before one of you messes up and reveal your hand before you want to."

Yeah, Damon figured the first person to put two and two together would be Stefan. He was perceptive and also he lived in the boardinghouse.

"You gonna run off and tell Elena?" Damon asked snidely.

Stefan shook his head. "It's not my place to tell," and he headed for the door yet paused. "Tell Bonnie I said she makes the best cum noises."

Damon picked up the first thing his hand landed on, which happened to be an antique figurine which he chucked at his brother's head. It smashed against the door Stefan closed as he exited the room.

**Exactly two days later **the gang sans Alaric and Jeremy had gathered at a small privately owned dance club that was located fifteen miles outside of Mystic Falls. Everyone had been itching for some new excitement since things were stuck on repeat back home.

So Damon found himself sitting in a booth with Caroline seated beside him, Elena straight across from him, and Stefan sitting diagonally to him. And of course there was one noticeable absence. Bonnie.

Their fake argument hadn't turned into an authentic one, but life situations had kept them apart and they weren't able to rendezvous like they originally planned. Damon had to officiate an emergency council meeting that same night, and then had to travel over to the Mikaelson house because Klaus of all people wanted a favor of him.

Klaus wanted to know where a certain member of his family had fled off too. Rebekah had been missing for more than a week, and Klaus wouldn't have found this strange, but Rebekah rarely left his side for no longer than forty-eight hours.

So Klaus wanted to know if Becks had moved into the boardinghouse and was giving him the silent treatment. Damon merely told him:

"It was a wham, bam thank you ma'am and I haven't seen her since."

Those were his words verbatim which of course caused Klaus' eye to twitch.

Now he sat there and guzzled beer and tossing back shots as he waited for Bonnie's inevitable arrival. However, he had to deal with Elena throwing him slightly flirty looks. It was obvious she wanted to get out on the dance floor but Stefan was such a stick in the mud he was perfectly content with sitting in the booth all night.

But Damon was going to take great joy in cracking Elena's face once he was ready to spill the beans about his relationship with Bonnie. He wouldn't exactly go into graphic detail; he would just spell it out in such a masterful way she would at least cry herself to sleep for three months consecutively.

A familiar scent infiltrated his nose and Damon perked up like a prairie dog. His eyes searched the crowd until they landed on Bonnie. He was prepared to grin but then frowned until his handsome face nearly resembled a prune.

Bonnie walked through the crowd swaying her body to the music as she tossed her head back in exaltation. Every time she shimmied her shoulders her breasts jiggled until they almost slipped out of the cups of the lingerie corset top she was wearing. Damon had seen enough lingerie in his life to know when it was the real thing or a top designed to look like underwear. That wasn't the case with the ivory and pink top Bonnie was sporting that she paired with wide leg jeans.

It didn't take long for a horde of men to diverge on Bonnie.

"What the hell is she doing?" Damon questioned and already slid to the edge of the booth like he meant to approach her.

He could hear Stefan chuckling—ignored him. Elena and Caroline looked out into the crowd and spotted their friend. Their eyes widened considerably.

"She's been acting so strange lately," Caroline remarked and then pushed Damon on the shoulder. "Move so I can get out."

Damon didn't budge a single muscle.

Bonnie gyrated her hips and put on a performance good enough to win her an Academy Award. She would teasingly grind her backside into one of her potential suitor's crotch but left enough space in between for propriety sake. She felt Damon's eyes on her the whole while, would have to be dead in order to not feel those laser beams planted right on her ass.

As the uptempo song finished, a warm muscular arm wrapped around her waist and she was abruptly pulled into an equally muscular chest. Bonnie stared up at the stranger over her shoulder. She was met with straight white teeth, deep dark mahogany skin, and dark bedroom eyes.

"Can I buy you a drink?" the deep voice asked.

Bonnie shook her head and tried to dislodge herself from the stranger's grip. He only tightened his hold on her in response.

"Come on, baby. After the way you were shakin' that ass and those tits I know you parched."

Bonnie blinked rapidly. Did he _really _just say that to her?

"I don't want a drink," Bonnie reiterated heatedly. "Now,_ take_ your hands off me."

This was the downside in coming to clubs. Certain men, not all of them felt if you danced with them and they offered to buy you a drink and you accepted that they were entitled to certain benefits. If you refused they felt totally in their right to turn belligerent and call you names they'd never use on their mother or sister. She was expecting this to turn ugly.

"Just one drink. I'm not asking you to marry me," the man persisted and boldly licked his lips as he boldly focused his hungry gaze on her cleavage.

"She said she doesn't want a drink."

Bonnie breathed out a sigh of relief at recognizing the voice. The stranger turned around and briefly acknowledged Damon and wrote him off just as easily.

"Mind your business white boy." He turned back to Bonnie who was busy watching Damon. He appeared cool on the surface yet she knew a storm was building if the fury lining his eyes were any indication.

"She_ is_ my business," Damon inserted.

The stranger turned around and stepped up to Damon planting himself right in his face. "And I told you to step the _fuck_ off, cracker."

Bonnie closed her eyes in resignation. This was not going to end pretty.

Everything began to unfold in slow motion as the stranger grinned at his derogatory term, pivoted to face Bonnie again but didn't make it that far before Damon grabbed him by the collar of his expensive shirt, his right hand balled into a fist that connected with the stranger's cheek that sent him spiraling a good ten feet away.

It was like a bowling ball effect as the man crashed into other dancers on the floor and knocked down several people prior to losing consciousness.

Whoever accompanied the man appeared out of nowhere like ninjas as two grabbed Damon by the arms while a third stood in front of him and began to pummel him.

Damon allowed this for half a second before he pushed the guy who was holding his right arm into the crowd, kicked the guy who was using his face as a punching bag in the nuts, and finished off the last remaining idiot by throwing him into a wall.

All hell broke loose.

Stefan muttered before climbing out of the booth to go assist his brother. "This is why I wanted to stay my ass home."

Bonnie had to put a stop to this because too many people stood to get hurt. The minimal security looked a little bewildered as they tried to control the crowd. Bonnie focused her eyes on the sprinkler system and turned it on.

Girls screamed and futilely attempted to cover themselves. A mass exodus ensued as people jostled one another to escape the frigid water that rained down on their heads. Damon glared at Bonnie for a second before grabbing her by the arm and hauling her towards the exit.

The air outside was a bit chilly and with her being thoroughly drenched it didn't take long for Bonnie to start shivering.

She followed behind Damon demurely knowing she was in big trouble. "Damon…"

"I don't want to hear it, Bonnie," he pulled his car keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. He didn't climb in. He slammed the door shut and flashed up to her.

He quickly looked her over and noticed her dark areolas were on full display through her soaked top. He shrugged off his leather jacket and threw it around her shoulders.

"Why the _fuck_ would you wear that top to a bar? We're you looking to get accosted by some jackass?"

"No," Bonnie wiped wet tendrils of hair off her face. She stared down at her feet. "I wore it for you."

He scoffed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's all well and good, but please do so in private and not in public. I have no problems starting fights to keep assholes off you, but don't resort to playing _this _game with me. I've lived too long to have to deal with this shit."

"I'm sorry, Damon. I guess I didn't think this through all the way."

He snorted. "You think?"

Feeling deeply chastised Bonnie risked looking up at him. "I won't do it again. I promise." A beat. "Do you forgive me?"

He shook his head. "You're going to buy me a drink," he told her and then poked her in the chest, "and you're coughing up the cookies."

"Excuse you?"

He held up a finger in warning. "Don't start. All that's on my mind right now is burying my face between your boobs. But I'm mad at you because if I wasn't here, that guy could have hurt you."

"He wouldn't have had the chance. I can do interesting things with my mind, or have you forgotten?"

"Bonnie!"

Damon and Bonnie turned at hearing Elena calling her name. They speared one another with a knowing look.

"Where did you park?" he asked.

"On the other end of the lot." Damon saw Bonnie to her car and instructed she follow him.

His adrenaline was pumping as he headed back to his car. The sex was about to be off the freaking chain!

Fifteen minutes after fleeing the scene Damon checked them into a Hilton Garden Inn off the highway because they already knew the boardinghouse would be full of freeloaders, and what they were about to do they didn't need any voyeurs.

He could barely get the card into the slot to open the door. Bonnie was not helping matters by attempting to climb his back. She reached inside the front of his pants.

Damon spun around, cupped her chin and pilfered her mouth with his tongue.

They fell into the room.

This time Bonnie was the aggressor. She ripped his shirt clean down the middle and placed open mouth kissed on his pecks before capturing a nipple between her teeth. Damon attempted to unbutton her jeans, but Bonnie spun them around until his back was facing the bed. Bonnie pushed him on it and climbed on top of him all the while pinning his arms on the mattress.

They kissed one another passionately, recklessly until the point Bonnie tasted the metallic taste of blood on her lip. She ended the kiss and worked her down Damon's body. She freed him from his Durango boots and his pants, never surprised by the fact he wasn't wearing underwear.

Bonnie fit herself between his thighs, took hold of his flagpole and gobbled him whole.

Damon would have been ashamed to hear the noises that were coming out of his mouth but he simply didn't care. This wasn't about pride or ego but being with the woman who was determined to turn him out.

Bonnie stopped just prior to him about to pop as she flopped on the bed next to him. She took it upon herself to wiggle her jeans off her body. She kicked her strappy sandals off, grabbed Damon's left hand and jammed it in her panties.

His fingers instinctively parted her folds before two digits got missing.

This position left him open to stimulate her glowing skin with his tongue and teeth. He maneuvered until he was more comfortable and then tugged her underwear down but let it dangle off her left foot.

Damon licked his hand, the one that had been buried in Bonnie enjoying her sweet nectar. He positioned himself between her hips, took hold of himself and smacked her mound with the head of his penis.

Bonnie jumped a bit and tried to undulate her hips hoping he'd slip in.

"Be patient, kitten because we have all night."

His phone chose that moment to ring. He searched the floor, spotted it resting beside his jeans. He grabbed it and smirked.

Damon waved his phone back and forth. "It's Elena."

Bonnie groaned and fell back against the bed. "Don't answer it."

"Hello?" he answered it anyways and rubbed the head of penis down Bonnie's slit that made her choke on her own breath.

"Damon, where are you? Have you seen Bonnie?"

"I'm looking right at her," and he was staring at her while she was naked from the waist down, spread eagle before him. Damon pressed the head in and Bonnie bit her finger to stifle her hiss. "Would you like to talk to her?"

Bonnie glared at him yet that didn't stop her from propping her left leg on his shoulder. Damon handed her the phone, which she snatched and put it up to her ear.

And that's when Damon slid all the way into her.

"Arghhh," slipped out before Bonnie could contain it.

Alarmed Elena shouted, "Bonnie! What's wrong?"

She needed a moment to answer because Damon was pumping in and out of her slowly, deliciously slowly.

Bonnie cleared her throat and hoped her voice would be steady enough to answer her friend's question. Naturally Damon would have to remove a boob out of the cup of her corseted top and fondle it with his tongue.

"ElenaI'mfineI'lltalktoyoulater," came out of Bonnie's mouth in one rushed sentence. She ended the call and threw his phone at the wall and smiled evilly when it broke apart.

"I liked that phone, Judgey."

"Stop calling me that."

Damon rotated his hips in that way he had perfected that made Bonnie shriek like a horse.

"You're going to have to convince me to stop," he asked while he loomed over her, their bodies creating a yummy friction.

Bonnie grabbed him by the throat, wrapped her legs tightly around his waist and then flipped their positions. Damon was a bit surprised by her strength.

"I think I can manage that," she said and unzipped her corseted top and let it float to the floor with the rest of their clothes. She pushed her wet hair off her shoulders, reared her head back, and sighed as she rode him like a thoroughbred horse.

Chapter end.

**A/N: The reason why I made such drastic edits, and I should have explained this more clearly, I apologize for that, is because this site sent me an email saying it was reported to them that my stories contain MA rated material. Who reported me? I have no clue, and that person or "thing" sucks! If I didn't delete my stories or edit them in 2 days they were going to do it and/or suspend my account. We don't want that to happen, do we? So that's why I had to make changes. Trust me I didn't want to do it but I knew people were losing access to their accounts and their stories were being deleted without warning. I was one of the lucky ones to get a warning before they did it. The first two chapters of this story is posted on Valent Chamber, unedited, under the same penname. Sorry for the inconvenience but it is what it is. Just trying to follow the rules so I don't lose all the hard work I've put in with my other stories. **

**Now thoughts/feelings about this chapter: I know the first time I posted it I got mixed results. Some thought Bonnie was acting OOC, some thought she was opening up. I decided to explore another side of Bonnie since she's been exploring her sexuality with Damon. She'll make rookie mistakes, but bear in mind she's young and doesn't know everything about seduction. And because we see so little of her on the show that has nothing to do with spells and saving the day, who's not to say she wouldn't be this open and free if she was getting pleasured by one of the best in the business? All right that's my spiel. Off I go. Thank you for reading! Love you.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I disclaim ownership of these characters. The only thing belonging to me is the plot. Thanks for reading. I didn't make any alterations to this chapter.  
**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

Alaric entered Mystic Grill feeling like a long lost ranger. His eyes squinted in the dimly lit building as he saw familiar faces all eating the same familiar food. He was fully prepared to head over to his favorite bar stool and get sloshed until his head felt several sizes too big to sit steady on his shoulders, however, he spotted Bonnie sitting alone with several textbooks laid open before her.

Alaric took just a minute to examine her. For as young as she was, Bonnie had an old soul paired with sage green eyes, and a sharp wit. He had tried to offer her some words of advice and/or comfort after the whole Jeremy debacle, but being sentimental wasn't really his strongest suit. Besides he felt he owed her something since he had been there the night Bonnie asked the witches to bring Jeremy back, and Ric learned she loved him.

Sighing, he ran a hand over the back of his neck and approached her.

It took a few moments for Bonnie to realize someone was looming over her table. Bonnie stopped her feverish writing and glanced up. She smiled once she noticed that it was Ric and motioned with her hand for him to join her.

Ric slid out a chair and examined some of the books Bonnie was pouring into. His brow lifted at some of the titles.

"I have a research paper due in my English class," she explained. "I'm doing a comparative analysis of the Pan-African Diaspora to the Civil Rights Movement."

"Deep," Alaric complimented and folded his arms over the table. "We don't get to talk much, Bonnie, is everything all right with you?"

She shrugged and went back to her note taking. "Why wouldn't everything be all right? It's been a full week since anyone's died," she looked at him, "including you."

Ric chuckled good-naturedly. "Thank God for small favors." He cleared his throat. Ric had always been an observant man and in his secret line of work especially so, but he had noticed that something shifted in the Damon/Bonnie paradigm that as much as he didn't want to get involved in the particulars, he was deeply curious to figure out what changed.

Damon might have thought he was being slick by invariably having something smart to say whenever Bonnie made a suggestion, but he always found some excuse to stand next to her or loom over her. And it wasn't lost on Ric that Damon's impromptu visits to the Gilbert pad had virtually become non-existent. In addition to that, whenever Damon made himself a new conquest Ric was typically the first person to suffer through the filthy details, but lately his murderous friend had been mum and that just didn't fit Damon's profile.

Something was up.

What made his spidey sense tingle even further was the way, whenever Bonnie was around, Damon would become noticeably silent. And that was only because he spent so much time staring at Bonnie—when he thought no one was paying him any attention.

However, with Bonnie her Modus Operandi never changed. Her annoyance and irritation with Damon remained the same, and she hadn't been going out of her way to prove how much she disliked him, but…

Something was up between them. And as Bonnie's concerned teacher, and Damon's only friend he felt it was his responsibility to get to the bottom of it in the most diplomatic way possible.

"Bonnie are you sleeping with Damon?"

She snapped the tip to her pencil and flashed incredulous eyes at Alaric. "Excuse me?"

Ric wore a stern expression on his face before it dissolved into a lax one as if he were preparing himself for something dreadful.

Mouth suddenly dry, Bonnie wasn't sure what to say. If she went with the truth she'd have to suffer through a lecture on all the reasons screwing around with Damon could pose a threat to her life expectancy and sanity and she simply wasn't in the mood to listen to him. As if she didn't give herself the same lectures day after day only to discard them the minute she stepped out of the house.

"If I am I don't see how it's your business."

"You're right, it's not, but if you are I thought you'd be smarter than everyone else than to fall victim to Damon's charm. Especially when you know how he feels about Elena."

Bonnie cinched her teeth on top of one another and sat back in her chair. "How does he feel about Elena, Ric? Has he told you lately?"

"Well…no…but it was only two months ago he was literally chasing her around town. Damon isn't the type of man to just let something go when he's been after it for a really long time and accept defeat graciously. I understand that he and Stefan came to some sort of agreement that they'll leave her alone, but I don't think for one second that he's stopped loving her."

And there was the elephant Bonnie had hoped never to address. Her actions might have appeared foolish and reckless by behaving so wantonly with a man who made it no secret he had a boner for her best friend. But…she understood Damon's character better than anyone else. Yet Ric was absolutely right that Damon didn't just give up without really trying to win the prize, yet she knew he had shifted course just as swiftly as his mood changed.

Quite honestly she wasn't worried about being dumped for Elena. And it wasn't cockiness but confidence that assured Bonnie that Damon was completely done with her best friend. Now if the rest of the town could circulate that memo around things would be much better.

"Ric, I have no problems with Damon loving her, in fact it's a good thing that he does because it means his humanity is intact. However," she held up a finger in warning, "as impulsive as he likes to be, he knows he'll be messing with the wrong one if he tried to trifle with me."

And that was why Alaric admired Bonnie so much. For as young as she was, her backbone was made out of steel as well as her nerves and resolve. And she was absolutely right, Damon knew better than to try to use Bonnie to make Elena jealous or any reason not profiting Bonnie.

What Ric also discovered was that Bonnie cleverly neither confirmed nor denied his question. Yet something was telling him the truth would come to pass soon enough.

"On that note, I'll let you get back to studying. I'll see you in class tomorrow, Bonnie."

"Have a goodnight, Ric and don't drink too much."

Ric inclined his head and pivoted on his heels to walk away when he nearly collided into Tyler. His eyes widened considerably as he looked at Klaus' first successful hybrid. It had been weeks since Tyler ran off after either accidentally or purposely biting Caroline on her birthday no less. At first, Ric was happy to see him, and then suspicion kicked in and he folded his arms over his chest.

"Tyler, glad to see you're back in town."

Tyler hunched a shoulder and stuck a hand in his pant pocket. "It was time that I came back. How's everything been since I was gone?"

"Chaotic and insane, you know, the usual. Well, I'll get out of your way. Looks like you were on your way to talk to Bonnie."

"Yeah, I was," Tyler shifted around the man and then sat down in the chair Alaric vacated. "Hey Bon, thanks for agreeing to see me. I've been blacklisted."

"As the selected peace-keeper of the group I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt."

Tyler licked his mauve colored looks and gazed down at the books on the table but didn't seem interested in taking a closer look at any of them. He blew out a breath as if he were about to shoot the winning shot of a basketball game.

He brought those obsidian eyes on Bonnie. "I know I messed up the night of Caroline's birthday and she's forgiven me in her own way. That being said…I want in on killing Klaus."

Bonnie was flabbergasted. "Really? You're sired to him, Tyler."

He shook his head in the negative. "Not anymore. Bill taught me how to break the sire bond. I guess you can say I'm a werewolf again," he added with a hint of regret. "I turned just this past full moon."

Bonnie felt her chest tighten in sympathy for Tyler. They had known one another since they were kids but had never been particularly close. And when Caroline had explained to Bonnie the horrible and literally bone breaking process Tyler had to endure every full moon, Bonnie wouldn't want her greatest enemy to suffer that fate—correction—anyone outside of Klaus she didn't want to have to go through that.

Instinctively she wanted to reach out and lay a comforting hand on his but she refrained from doing so.

"No one is going to trust that you'll be a hundred percent on our side, Ty, you have to know that."

"And that's why I'm coming to you with this and not Caroline, Elena, or anyone else. I know with your endorsement," he said a bit ruefully, "everyone would be more willing to listen. I'll start drinking vervain by the liter if I have to, to prove that I want nothing else to do with Klaus and that I'm taking measures not be treated like his mindless zombie again. I want to be with Caroline, and the only way that'll be possible is if Klaus is dead."

So Tyler must know that Klaus had been capitalizing on his absence by trying to woo his girl. Caroline might have been a lot of things, but she wasn't cheap and couldn't be persuaded to the dark side just because you dangled some pretty jewelry in her face.

Bonnie took his proposal into consideration. Why did she suddenly feel like the Godfather all of a sudden? Hopefully she wouldn't start speaking with a deep indecipherable Italian accent with her hair slicked back from her face.

"Well, before I can convince everyone else, you're going to have to prove your loyalty to me."

Something flashed in Tyler's eyes. It might have been apprehension, anger, suspicion, or all of the above, but his back went rigid in his chair and his nostrils flared a bit.

"How?" he practically growled.

"The Young Ambassadors are in need of volunteers."

Tyler released the breath he had been holding and felt the tension melt out of his shoulders.

Bonnie continued. "You thought I was going to ask for a blood sacrifice?" she snorted. "Not everything I do has a witch's edge to it."

Tyler held up his hands in mock surrender. "Sorry no offense."

"None taken. We're cleaning out the old Hampton property so that Habitat for Humanity can do renovations on the house. I need hot buff guys to come and lend a hand," she smiled.

"I can do that. So you think I'm hot?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Everybody in this town is hot. It's a little ridiculous actually. If you show up ready to work with a positive attitude then sure, I'll tell everyone what a rehabilitated man you are. Sound like a deal?"

Tyler stretched his hand out towards Bonnie. She accepted the proffered limb. They shook on it.

**Damon was re-shelving **the books in his room when he felt a presence looming in his doorway. He shifted his attention to his visitor. His left eyebrow got lost under the sweep of midnight hair that covered his forehead as his eyes traversed over the five inch thigh high boots quarter length trench coat wearing vixen who was leaning against his door with her arms folded over her chest.

The book that was in his hand fell to the floor as Damon turned until he faced Bonnie head on. She smirked at him and then pushed away from the door, grabbed the handle, and closed it with a soft click.

Her heels tapped against the floor and he was able to catch a glimpse of that infamous red sole. "New boots?" he asked.

Bonnie shrugged. "You can say that. Imagine my surprise that after an intense research session I arrived home with this shipment lying inconspicuously against my front door. Not thinking much about it, I open it up and volia, it's the exact pair of Christian Louboutin boots I was saving my hard earned pennies for. Only," Bonnie placed her index finger on her chin, "I hadn't ordered the boots yet."

Only a fraction of Damon's mind was focused on Bonnie's monologue while the other ninety percent of his brain was wondering if she were naked under the trench coat.

"Maybe daddy," Damon said this a bit snidely because he had such a low opinion of Bonnie's actual father, "had a change of heart. Or maybe," a leer appeared on his face, "your other _daddy _wanted to make you happy."

Bonnie felt a rush go through her. "If that's the case," she wrapped her arms over his shoulders while Damon grabbed her by the hips. "How do you propose I thank daddy?"

He appeared to be in deep thought. "You can sit on his lap and whisper in his ear how wonderful he is."

"I could do that."

"Or you could let him deposit his wallet in your pocketbook."

Bonnie scrunched up her nose. "What?" she chuckled.

"Enough with his, Judgey. What's under the coat?"

Bonnie slipped out of his arms. "Not so fast," she said and went over to Damon's iPod home system, and slipped hers into the console. Soon "Lick" by Joi began to play as Bonnie approached Damon who automatically reached for the knotted belt around her waist. He pulled a strap until it was completely unraveled and her coat fell open like parting curtains to reveal…

"A Hello Kitty shirt and boy shorts," he gawked at her. "Are you kidding me?"

Bonnie laughed, kissed him teasingly, before slipping her coat off her shoulders and letting it pool around her feet.

She headed over to Damon's bed, climbed on and wiggled her ass back and forth. He growled at the open invitation and moved until he stood at the edge of the bed where he painfully, methodically flicked the buttons open on his shirt revealing the rippling muscles underneath. Bonnie drew a corner of her bottom lip into her mouth as she watched the strip show. Her eyes dipped when Damon reached for the fly of his pants and tugged it down.

He licked his right hand, slipped it inside his pants and made quite a show of tugging on his erection. Moisture gushed between Bonnie's legs.

After a moment of this, Damon dropped his pants and stood to his full height, hands on his hips while his engorged member pointed almost accusingly at Bonnie. There she merely sat tucked away in the middle of his bed, legs bent and crossed over one another as she swung her right foot like a pendulum.

Damon crawled on the bed looming over Bonnie who parted her legs to make room for him. She fell back until she laid flat on her back and stared up at him.

Damon ran a hand down her neck and followed it with his tongue. Once he reached her shirt he grabbed it by the hem and wrenched it up revealing something Damon had never seen before and he had seen some major stuff. But the only way he could describe what his eyes were feasting on was Bonnie's bra that wasn't a bra but a bralette set. Two straps of thin green silk fabric wrapped around her shoulders, held together with a strap running under her ribs and a third connecting two black bows, actual bows covering her nipples.

"You're drooling, Damon," Bonnie said when she felt some moister land on her stomach.

He blinked several times and then eagerly removed her boy shorts to discover she had on the tiniest underwear in the history of the world. It too was held together by thin straps that tied in bows on her hips. The triangular piece that covered her mound was sheer and offered very little modesty.

Needless to say he was hard like the shell of an ostrich egg.

"Sorry," he said not sounding repentant in the least merely ducked his head, grabbed a ribbon between his teeth and pulled. He repeated the process on her other hip until her underwear fell away revealing her freshly waxed twat.

He licked his lips but then a radical thought occurred to him. Instead of going about things in the traditional way, Damon picked Bonnie up by the waist, and held her upside down.

"Damon!" Bonnie screamed as all the blood rushed from her throbbing center to pound in her head. She tried to steady herself on her forearms.

"You'll enjoy this," he slithered his tongue between her slit. "I promise," he breathed over her dripping center and proceeded to show her.

**Many, many, many hours later **Bonnie was sprawled out on the bed, hair sticking up at odd angles with deep tangles as she tried to catch her breath. Wasn't happening.

Damon, with his arms tucked behind his head, a smug look on his face, peered up at the ceiling. "I could use a cigarette."

"And I could use a tank of oxygen." She stretched her neck until she could see Damon. His smirk refused to disappear even twenty minutes after he gave Bonnie her tenth orgasm in one night. She wouldn't be surprised if she inadvertently turned his bed into a water bed if you caught her drift.

"You have excellent stamina, Judgey," Damon complimented. "I bet you're ready to go again."

Bonnie scoffed. "I think not and anymore sex would be coochie abuse, Damon. She's tired."

"Oh really," he said and to prove his thesis began to march two little fingers down her belly until they prodded her center and he felt her clit jump against his fingers. Bonnie twisted her legs away.

"Leave me alone!" she moaned and slapped a pillow over her head.

Damon chuckled and pulled it away and then proceeded to pull Bonnie closer prompting her to use his chest for a pillow.

"New topic," he changed the subject. "Ric told me he had an interesting conversation with you. The subject of sex came up. What did you say to Ric when he asked you if we were sleeping together?" he glided his fingers up her arm and over her shoulder.

Bonnie moaned a bit and wiggled against the bed.

"I neither confirmed nor denied anything. It's a lot more fun to just let him stew."

"He won't be stewing for long because I told him."

Bonnie abruptly sat up. "You did what?"

Damon shrugged. "He asked and I'm only an advocate in lying when my life depends on it. Telling the truth makes you feel lighter like having your colon cleansed."

Bonnie snickered and shook her head.

"Beside he's not the only person who knows about us."

Hearing that news caused Bonnie to blanche. "Who else knows? No wait. Stefan?"

"Yep."

Bonnie flopped back on his chest. "I'm not surprised. So how did Ric take the news?"

"He took it like man. I mean what could he possibly say to me? I'm his elder and he has to bow down to my authority," he smirked. "But he went through the motions of giving me a speech about screwing around with young girl's feelings, and wondering if I've resolved my feelings for Elena and I'm sure birth control was brought up at some point," Damon ended his diatribe by snorting.

Bonnie ignored that last part. There was something else she wanted to know. "Have you resolved your feelings?" Bonnie questioned.

Damon shifted in bed until he could peer down at Bonnie, staring at her with a fiercely serious expression. "Do you think I'd start sleeping with you if I were still holding a candle for Elena? I would be a pile of ashes if that was my intent because you don't play around. And I have far too much respect for you to start doing this, if _this _wasn't what I wanted."

Bonnie leaned up in bed until she was able to straddle Damon. She kissed him lightly at first and then more passionately as the minutes ticked off the clock.

Damon cupped a breast in his hand and began to massage it until her little nub stiffened and rubbed against the palm of his hand.

And then someone had to clear their throat.

Damon cursed, dropped his hand, and threw the covers over Bonnie. Bonnie for her part looked at the intruder over her shoulder and frowned.

Stefan just stood there like a statue. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything," he smiled wickedly.

Damon snapped, "What do you want?"

"You have a visitor downstairs."

"Who?"

"Elena."

Damon muttered something prior to nipping Bonnie's lips and depositing her back on the bed, making sure all of her pertinent parts were covered up. Damon boldly climbed out of bed as naked as the day he was born, snatched up his jeans, thrust them on but stopped in front of his brother.

"You're enjoying this a bit too much, Stefan," his glacial eyes flashed.

"Now you know what it feels like to have someone intrude on you getting your freak on."

Damon pushed Stefan by the chest to get him to move out of the way so he could close the door. But Stefan wasn't budging. While this was taking place, Bonnie wrapped the sheet around her like a toga and tried to inch her way out of bed.

"No need to leave on my account," Stefan said. Damon grabbed him by the collar and forced him to leave.

Bonnie hustled her way to the bathroom to get herself presentable. She was thankful she kept a special stash of clothes on retainer and quickly dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. Once that was accomplished Bonnie made up his bed and crawled back on it.

"Bonnie?"

She jumped at Stefan's voice. Bonnie became self-conscious as she fixed her clothes and ran a hand through her hair. She wondered why Stefan just remained in the threshold staring at her.

"Was there something else you wanted?" she questioned.

He shook his head. "No, well…I'm glad that Damon has moved on."

"So am I."

"Although I think you can do much better than Damon, you're probably better for him than anyone else simply because you call him on his shit and you don't back down."

Bonnie smiled tightly. Was there a point Stefan was trying to make because if he was she just wished he'd get it to? He was being totally weird.

"But with you and Damon being together, that means I get to see more of you."

Bonnie froze and merely looked at Stefan as if he were an Avatar. He fled the scene before Bonnie had a chance to form a coherent thought to question if he were joking or being serious. The men of this town were just too weird for her.

When Damon materialized ten minutes later he slammed the door to his room closed. He said nothing as he caught Bonnie by the ankle and tugged her towards the edge of the bed. Once she was close enough he fell on top of her but caught himself by the forearms, dipped his head, and kissed her stupid.

"What was that for?" she asked after they came up for air.

"No reason."

"What did Elena want?" Bonnie busied herself with tracing Damon's jaw and his bottom lip with her fingers.

"To complain about Stefan. She's worried that he's been starving himself as some kind of penance and she wants me for lack of a better word to start force feeding him."

Bonnie frowned. So maybe his hunger was the driving force behind that comment he made.

"What happens to a vampire mentally if they stop drinking blood of either kind?"

Damon shrugged and traced designs along Bonnie's neck. "I'm not really sure but I've heard they can suffer from symptoms that are similar to dementia."

"Anything else?"

Damon knew when she was digging for something and not merely out of curiosity. Something had happened during the short time he was downstairs with Elena.

"Did Stefan say something to you after I left?"

Bonnie clammed up. She didn't want to get Stefan in trouble since the brothers finally found some middle ground and were civil to one another. If Damon was threatened in anyway or if someone he cared about was being threatened, he literally would stop at nothing to get rid of the threat.

"It's not important," she tried to shrug it off. When she looked into his eyes, they were analyzing all the minute changes to her face and pupil dilation.

"Now really isn't the time to start lying to me, honey. I can always go beat the truth out of Stefan. It's been a while since I've thrown him into a wall."

"And that's exactly why I'm not telling you anything. Just be assured he didn't threaten me, and even if he did, I can take him."

Hearing her repeat the words she spoke in reference to taking down Klaus made a chill lick down Damon's spine. It had been his idea for Bonnie to fake her death, but seeing her stretched out on the floor like a broken doll with her amazing eyes wide open staring at nothingness bothered him more than he thought it would.

Then a thought struck him. "Did he come on to you?"

Bonnie realized Damon was more amused by this than livid. She supposed that was a good thing.

"Get that stupid grin off your face," she admonished. Damon dipped his head and began to press languid kisses against the column of her neck. "Stefan has the hots for _my_ girl…" Damon stilled when he realized what just came out of his mouth.

Bonnie did as well. This would make for the first time he used an endearment that didn't have somewhat impersonal tones like: baby, sugar, honey. He could go around town acknowledging every woman that way, but to claim Bonnie as _his_ girl, they just stepped into another astral plane of possibilities.

Damon pulled away to examine her face again. "Ah…er…um…that…"

Bonnie placed her fingers over his stuttering lips. "It's fine. I've considered myself your girl for a while now. I was just waiting for you to catch up."

"Oh, really?"

Bonnie nodded her head.

"So does this make me your guy?" he wiggled his eyebrows.

"I'm still deciding."

He started tickling her and Bonnie attempted to fight him off. He tweaked a nipple between his fingers and Bonnie shrieked a bit.

"Am I your guy, Bonnie!" he kept assailing her.

Bonnie tried to twist away and couldn't. "I said I'll think about it."

"Not good enough," he said lifted up her shirt and popped a boob in his mouth. He laved a chocolate tipped pearl with his tongue. Bonnie hissed and arched more into him. "Am I'm your guy?"

"You're…" panted. "We're…" eyes crossed. "More…" screamed a bit. "Yes!" she said as Damon paid the same attention on her other breast.

He stopped instantly and smiled down at her victoriously.

"We should shower," Damon said and promptly removed Bonnie's jeans and shirt.

Bonnie got out of bed, and followed Damon to the bathroom.

**The next day **everyone had assembled at the Gilbert residence for a traditional morning breakfast. As protocol demanded Bonnie and Damon arrived separately, but snuck off to a second floor half bath to "wash" their hands. Inside the tight space they clutched one another as if the other would vanish, and massaged each other's tongue before devouring lips.

"One of us has to leave before everyone gets suspicious," Bonnie panted and angled her neck to grant Damon better access.

He ran a slightly protruding fang along her jumping vein lacerating it only until a sliver of blood escaped which he quickly gobbled it up.

Bonnie groaned and Damon slapped a hand over her mouth. Sure there was a lot of activity taking place in the kitchen downstairs, but two other vampires occupied the house as well. Stefan knew, and Damon was sure Caroline was putting the pieces together little by little.

So that prompted him to put some space between them. Bonnie pouted prettily and this time really washed her hands. Yet while she did that Damon couldn't resist grinding his erection against her butt.

"Don't start something you can't finish," she glared at him in the mirror's reflection.

"You know I _always _finish."

After she dried her hands, Bonnie kissed him perfunctorily on the cheek.

She slipped out of the bathroom first and made her way back to the kitchen. She self-consciously wiped at her neck, the exact location Damon's fang almost had its evil way with her. She strolled past Stefan who instantly stiffened and looked at her. Bonnie ignored his reaction as she joined Elena at the stove and the two of them began scooping scrambled eggs into a large ceramic bowl.

"Breakfast is ready!" Elena yelled.

Damon opted to take a seat at the kitchen island and not the table. He kept his eyes glued to Bonnie's swaying hips as she stirred sugar into a pitcher of iced tea.

After she was done with this, Bonnie began dressing a plate—her thoughts totally centered on Damon. As each day passed and they learned more about one another not just sexually but in other areas, she felt herself opening up and developing in places that remained dormant for far too long. He could make her laugh until her stomach hurt, and pissed her off to the point she wanted to kill him, but she wouldn't change a single facet of their…relationship. Was this a relationship? Or were they just boning? In any case, Bonnie hadn't felt this relaxed in months. It was a miracle what some good lovin' could do for a girl.

Bonnie was feeling particularly warm towards Damon and it was being fueled by the fact he only said hello to Elena without actually looking at her. In her book it was an added plus to the morning. As a result, Bonnie wanted to do something nice for him.

Not really thinking of her actions, she walked a plate laden with food over to Damon, sat it down in front of him, and draped an arm over his shoulder.

"Thanks, honey," Damon said enthusiastically.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You're welcome."

Damon leaned up and captured her lips.

It took a moment for them to realize what they just did and who they just did it in front of.

Bonnie pulled away but it was far too late. There was dead silence in the kitchen. Color rose to Bonnie's cheeks and Damon, his eyes darted around noting all the shocked expressions. He shrugged it off and began scooping up eggs with his fork and ate with gusto.

The plate of food in Elena's hands dangled dangerously towards the floor and at the last minute she realized she was about to drop it.

"Bonnie, we need to talk. _Now_."

And Bonnie didn't appreciate that tone, but yeah they did need to talk. "About what?" she asked frostily.

Elena sputtered. "You…Damon…kissing…that's what," too flustered to continue Elena made her way outside through the patio doors. After a moment Bonnie followed.

Caroline sniffed. She wasn't about to be left out of the loop, not on something major like this! Damon and Bonnie kissing! What the hell!

When the girls vacated, something crashing to the floor caught the men's attention. Jeremy stood in the space that separated the kitchen from the living room. He was so red he was purple.

Alaric stood up and went to him. "Walk with me."

Stefan turned to his brother and sipped his juice, and chuckled.

"I still know how to clear a room," Damon boasted.

Chapter end.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Happy Friday! Thank you to everyone who's following this story once again. I added something's to this chapter, made it just a little bit longer. Hope you enjoy!**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Bonnie followed behind Elena **not like a chastised child, but like a soldier ready to do war. For so long she had to stand in the shadows and watch while every guy in a ten mile radius, with a beating pulse, and a hard dick chased after Elena. In the past Bonnie had been fine with her position but things were changing, _she _was changing, and it was time to draw the line in the sand.

Elena stopped short of reaching the large sycamore tree, balled her hands into fists and spun around.

Caroline followed up the rear yet stood off to the side and kind of in the middle. She'd be the mediator if it were necessary because she wasn't exactly sure how this "discussion" was about to go down. She loved both of her friends very much but acknowledged a long time ago they were the most obstinate people on the face of the earth. And they each thought they were _always_ right.

This was gonna be good! However, Caroline felt it was necessary for her to start things off since Elena looked ready to kill, which she really didn't understand why.

Caroline looked at Bonnie. "I just want to say remember you love each other, and that's the most important thing.

Neither girl acknowledged Caroline's words.

Elena tried to capture a single fleeting thought in her head to convey the bewilderment she was feeling on the inside.

Very calmly, she looked at her best friend and blurted the first thing that came to her mind.

"Why Damon?"

Bonnie folded her arms over her chest and tilted her chin up defiantly. "Why not?" she answered flippantly.

Elena laughed humorlessly. "Because it's _Damon _and you know how he is, Bonnie."

"Yeah, last I checked I didn't get whacked on the head and all of a sudden lost my memory. Yes, I know how he is and I've made my peace with it. What I don't understand, Elena, is why you're upset. Are you mad because you have feelings for him? Or are you mad that he's not chasing after your golden vagina anymore?"

Caroline's jaw dropped and Elena's eyes widened. Bonnie had never spoken to her like that before.

"I'm not that type of person, Bonnie. How dare you?"

Bonnie stepped closer to her friend. "No, how dare you, Elena. You made it pointedly clear to Damon that he's a free agent and can do what he wants, but now after you find out he has moved on and with your best friend no less, now you want to insert your 'rights'?" Bonnie used air quotation marks to illustrate her point.

Elena looked pained for a second. "That's not what I'm doing. You've known for a very long time how Damon's felt about me. He's made it no secret. To-to-to go and get mixed up with him…you only stand to get hurt."

"And how would I be getting hurt, Elena? Do you think Damon is with me to get back at you or to make you jealous because you rejected him? You can't claim ownership over someone when you realize they're no longer standing around waiting to wipe your ass. He's moved on and you have no choice but to accept it."

_Oooh. Burn, _Caroline thought.

Elena ran a frustrated hand through her long hair. "You have me all wrong, Bonnie."

"If that's the case why are we standing out here having this pissing contest? Question the real motive behind your anger, Elena, deal with it and move on. But know this," her voice became like steel. "He and I are together now, and you _have _to respect it."

"Wait?" Caroline held up her hands. "So you and Damon just aren't going around randomly kissing one another? You're like a couple?"

Bonnie allowed a tiny smile to crease her lips. "We became official last night." And heat sliced through her as she thought of how they sealed the deal. Bonnie cleared her throat to get her focus back on track.

The two brunettes eyed one another: Elena looking confused and unsure, Bonnie looking powerful and determined. She had never fought over a guy in her life before, but she would fight for Damon because, and she hated to use this phrase, she won him fair and square.

"I want to be happy for you," Elena said tentatively. "But we all know his history. He does things impulsively and other people always pay for it. I just don't want you to be one of those people."

"I appreciate the concern, I really do, but Damon knows what'll happen to him if he screws me over." Pause. "I know I didn't approve of your relationship with Stefan after finding out what he was…but I got over it with time. All I'm asking is that you show me the same courtesy."

Bonnie stared at Elena and then swept her eyes to Caroline. She took a step back, pivoted on her heels and walked back to the house.

Damon had listened to their gripe session and smirked a few times. That was his Bonnie, so full of fire and passion.

And while he was keeping a tab on the girls, he also had his ears tuned to Alaric and Jeremy who were upstairs in the boy's room.

"He's crossed the line, Ric."

Alaric stood across from Jeremy with his hands poised on his Wrangler jeans covered hips. "What line, Jeremy? You and Bonnie aren't together anymore."

The dark-haired boy rolled his muddy brown eyes. "That's not the point!"

"That is the point! Hey news flash, you were the one who cheated on Bonnie with the ghost of your dead ex-girlfriend. Please try to remember that."

Jeremy clenched his teeth on top of one another and glared at the man who had become somewhat of a father figure to him. Then, Jeremy's eyes trailed over to the person who was looming in the doorway.

Alaric turned around and stared at Bonnie.

"I need a moment with him."

Wordlessly Ric slipped from the room. Bonnie waited a second before stepping inside. It had been months since the last time she was here and it was a bit off setting to find that everything had remained virtually the same.

"How can you go and be with Damon? He's not even alive, Bonnie!"

"Jeremy I get that you're upset but you have no say in the choices or decisions I make. If you came back hoping to rekindle what was between us…I'm sorry. You wasted a plane ticket."

His jaw ticked. "Why can't you see he's only _using_ you?"

"He's not," Bonnie wanted to hammer that one fact into his puffy little head.

Jeremy scoffed. "Are you doing this to get back at me for the whole Anna thing?"

Bonnie merely blinked. Well, someone sure thought highly of themselves. "You and I have been over for months. If I were petty like that, which we both know I'm not, then I would have screwed Damon the same night you cheated on me."

The fight fled out of Jeremy once certain words Bonnie spoke penetrated his mind. He gulped.

"You…you've been sleeping with him."

Bonnie folded her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes heavenward. "Why is everyone so interested in my sex life all of a sudden?"

"Because it's amazing!" Damon yelled from downstairs.

Bonnie huffed yet shook her head ruefully. When she brought her eyes back to Jeremy she noticed that the blood which had rushed and taken up residency along his neck and in cheeks fled and he was pale white and slightly green.

"It's bad enough you're with him…but you've actually…Bonnie. You and I…"

"Were only together one time, yeah I know," she said a bit unsympathetically. When she and Jeremy were together it didn't leave them much time to date and/or explore their sexuality because someone *cough cough* always needed rescuing and saving. Bonnie remembered their one and only time as being a bit awkward and rushed. Jeremy had been too excited, Bonnie too cautious and it was over in seven minutes flat.

Damon had essentially ruined her for other men. His dick was like finding a unicorn. There was nothing else like it in existence. She wasn't sure if she'd ever to be able to adjust to regular human dick again, but she'd try. Maybe. If for some unforeseeable reason things didn't pan out between her and Damon. In any case there was no comparison between Damon and Jeremy. Damon was all man and a voracious lover. Jeremy was a man-child still trying to find his way.

"Jer…don't misunderstand me. I don't regret our relationship. You were there for me when I needed someone around, and kept me sane when things were falling apart. And you where the only one who was worried about my life and safety, and I thank you for that. So I don't regret falling for you, I just regret I was the only one who fell."

Jeremy lowered his head and found it a bit difficult to reach her eyes. "I really hurt you," he said after a moment.

"Not to the point where I contemplated putting a hex on you," she smiled a little. "But like I told your sister, I'm with Damon now and we're at a good place. And there's nothing that can change my mind."

"If only it could be with someone else, anyone else other than Damon," he lamented.

Bonnie understood his frustration. She tried placing herself in Jeremy's shoes and could commiserate to some degree because at the end of the day would she want her ex to be with someone who tried to kill her?

Well, Bonnie had firsthand experience in that arena so it disqualified her from answering. She spared him one final look before departing his room.

Naturally Damon would be waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. He didn't waste his time asking if she were all right. Just from her facial expression alone and from what he already knew of her personality, Bonnie was dealing with this in her own special way, and she wouldn't want to be coddled, neither was he the coddling type.

"Do you want to stay and continue this farce of a breakfast, or do you want to jet?"

"Let's go."

About a third of their trip to the Grill, Damon looked over at Bonnie. "You know there's one thing we've yet to do, Judgey."

She swiveled her head until she met his eyes that sparked with their notorious mischief. "Oh, yeah and what would that be? I think we've tried very single sex position…"

He smiled slyly. "Not all of them," he winked. "But I wasn't talking about sex, horn dog, I was talking about us going out on a date."

Bonnie perked up considerably. And shamefully why was it just occurring to her that he was right? Yeah, things between them were severely out of order but Bonnie was having too much fun to realize they bypassed certain prerequisites.

She licked her lips. "You want to wine and dine me?"

Damon hunched a shoulder. "I know my relationship skills are a little rusty but I'm fairly sure people who are screwing go out from time to time."

Bonnie rolled her eyes at his eloquence or lack thereof, but she couldn't contain her building excitement about going out on an official date with Damon.

"I'm not doing anything tonight," she said.

Damon grinned. "Not now, but you will be," he replied confidentially and pressed his foot harder on the gas.

**She had ten minutes left **before Damon was due to show up. She swabbed her cheeks with blush and glided her eyes over her attire. Damon hadn't given her many details on what they would be doing or where they'd be going. Bonnie figured in a town such as Mystic Falls they'd probably have dinner at the Grill and then afterwards, take things back to his place. She was hoping they'd be doing the exact opposite of that.

The only instructions he had given her, after handing her his credit card and dropping her off at the only high-end boutique in town, was to look beautiful as shit, not that she needed anymore help in that department. For one thrilling moment Bonnie felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, except for the whole being a hooker thing, but then her sensibility got to the best of her and she tried to refuse his generous offer.

Damon stared at her drolly. "I'm not doing this so we can argue and go have angry sex, not a bad idea by the way, but because you're just too adorable to refuse anything."

"Be careful, Damon," Bonnie warned playfully. "You're beginning to sound whipped."

To this he had rolled his eyes. What Bonnie and everyone else failed to realize is that no matter how many customs he adopted of the twenty-first century, there were still parts of him that were deeply rooted in his nineteenth century upbringing. Men doted on women, lavished them with gifts and trinkets as a show of their affection. No he wasn't going to start writing sonnets and poems—he left that crap to people like Stefan—but he had no problems splurging on his girlfriend.

Damon was taken aback at realizing he had a girlfriend, an authentic one, one he didn't have to compel so he could be himself with. Bonnie had seen him at his worst, had hated and despised him for valid reasons, and for them to be where they were now was nothing short of a miracle.

Besides he was trying this being nice thing to her just to see what kind of kickbacks would be in store for him.

But it was apparent that the nicer he tried to be her, the more obstinate Bonnie became. He sighed.

"Just take the damn card, Bonnie. You have my permission to put my ass further into debt, sweetie."

Bonnie sucked her teeth, but then snatched his card, smiled, and actually skipped her way into the boutique.

Sitting her blush brush down, Bonnie wiped her hands of any makeup residue and then ran them down the length of her midnight blue Elie Saab dress. It flared out to her feet, but what made the dress far more interesting was the thigh-high split on the side that only became visible when she walked.

On her feet were rhinestone encrusted strappy sandals that showed off her French pedicure. Bonnie had decided to wear her hair pin straight instead of in its usual waves.

Her doorbell rang and her heart rate spiked in her chest. Her palms instantly began to feel itchy and clammy as she grabbed her clutch, her overnight bag, turned off the light, and went downstairs to open the front door.

What waited for her on the other side left her feeling mesmerized and a bit off kilter.

Damon had chosen to wear his usual ensemble of black on black, but the suit he was wearing was European cut and tailored to fit to show off the broad expanse of his chest and his muscular arms. The black button down was open at the collar revealing some of his alabaster skin. He actually combed his hair, and tamed its customary discord.

Everything about Damon was black and white except for his eyes which stood out like two methane flames surrounded by thick, long lashes.

For his part Damon took a tour of Bonnie's assets stopping at his favorite places: her neck, her breasts, her hips, and ending with her feet. A delicious blend of vanilla, sandalwood, and lilac wafted off her skin. He had yet to be invited inside her domain but was assured it would only be a matter of time before that changed.

Bonnie swallowed not sure what a proper greeting would be. She couldn't explain why she was feeling shy and self-conscious all of a sudden. Maybe because she had never dated anyone like Damon before yet she found her slight hesitation a bit annoying. They had seen each other naked half a million times already and had seen one another in formal wear yet it couldn't explain why butterflies were throwing a rave in her stomach.

His baby blue eyes began to glow as he brashly continued to ogle her. Bonnie felt blood rushing to her cheeks. She looked away demurely. It wasn't difficult to see he wasn't thinking about donating a large sum of money to charity at the moment.

"Damon," Bonnie laughed nervously.

"You're making it very hard for me to not to say screw this whole date thing, let's get naked," he blurted.

"Control yourself, Salvatore. I'm not wasting three hours of preparation just so you can get me all sweaty and sticky. There's no backing out. You promised me a date."

"Drat," he snapped his fingers. "Well, in that case are you ready to experience the best night of your life?" Damon asked.

Bonnie nodded, turned off the light in the foyer and stepped out on the porch. Damon automatically reached for her bag, dropped it on the ground, pulled Bonnie to him and plundered her mouth. Her eyes fluttered closed as she wrapped her arms around him, drawing him as physically close as possible yet was still a bit irritated it wasn't close enough.

Damon took advantage the opening the split of her dress created and slipped his hand inside and squeezed her ass.

They continued like this until one of her neighbors who happened to be driving down the street honked his horn. They jumped a part, breathing heavily before chuckling to one another.

Damon turned to look over his shoulder. "Prude!" he yelled to the passing car.

"Lets go because they call the cops on us for indecent exposure."

Damon retrieved her bag from the porch and extended his arm to Bonnie who eagerly accepted it. Damon opened up the door for Bonnie, and then placed her overnight bag in the trunk.

"So where are we going?" she asked the minute Damon was behind the wheel.

He cranked the engine. "It's a surprise."

The surprise took them to an airstrip that was located approximately thirty miles outside of town. Damon parked the car, Bonnie climbed out, and the two of them walked towards a large hanger. Bonnie took note of the private two seater planes that decorated the pavement before bringing her curious eyes up to Damon.

They entered the large space and Bonnie was more than surprised at how clean it was, so clean she was sure a software company could build a computer chip. However, in the center of the room was a beautifully decorated table for two and off to the left, Bonnie saw a quartet of musicians setting up.

Two servers waited patiently for them holding silver bowls so Bonnie and Damon could wash their hands. Once that was complete, one server led Bonnie to the table, holding her very gently by the arm.

"Thank you," she said as her chair was pulled out and then pushed close to the table as she sat down.

She stared at Damon who snatched the linen napkin off his plate to lay it over his lap.

Champagne was poured into their crystal flutes and the serves, respectively bowed and stepped away.

The musicians began playing. Bonnie stared at them for a moment and smiled once she recognized the tune they were playing, "Kissing You" by Desree.

"Why are we having dinner in the middle of a plane hanger? Were all the reservations taken at Red Lobster?"

Damon chuckled and took a sip of the Cristal. "You know me, Bonnie when do I ever play things safe and predictable. If we had gone to the Grill we would have had to endure the stink eye from everybody because of our slip this morning. Which I gotta say was masterful on our end. Killed several birds with one stone without having to go through speech after speech, and blah, blah, blah."

Bonnie picked up her glass and stared at the ceiling that was covered with huge dome shaped halogen light fixtures. She could appreciate Damon's originality but she wasn't exactly feeling the atmosphere. The place was too big which made her feel extremely tiny in comparison.

Damon rested his elbows on the table. He could see Bonnie was feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of the space they were in, yet he only wanted her focus to be on them. Because tonight was about them, and every night which followed would be about them. Maybe he chose this spot as some sort of metaphor; that as big as the world was around them, when it came down to it, they were the only two people who mattered to him.

Sure he cared about others but only in a roundabout sort of way. And definitely by association.

Bonnie sat her flute down after taking a sip. "You didn't have to do this to impress me. I'm a simple girl."

"No, you're not," he contradicted vehemently. "You've never been simple a day in your life." Pause. "You've been a ball of fire since you were little."

Bonnie stared at him dubiously. "How would you know?"

He lifted his eyebrows and finished off his champagne before signaling he wanted a refill. "You won't remember this because it happened when you were about five or six years old, but some kind of uprising over a dodge ball game started. Someone was knocked out but still tried to play. I remember this skinny, pig-tail wearing, buck tooth girl stepping right in the middle of it, reared her little fist back and punched the chunky kid who started the dispute right in the teeth because," Damon cleared his throat to speak in a higher-pitch, " 'you used a bad word and no one says bad words to my friends'."

At first Bonnie had absolutely no idea what he was talking about but then the moment in time registered and she gasped, slapped her hands over her mouth, and laughed.

"I remember that," she said euphorically. "That kid…what was his name…John, Dave, whatever, he was the neighborhood bully had been held back twice and should have been in middle school, but was still in the fourth grade. My hand hurt for like two days. How did you know it was me?"

"Because Sheila came and got you I guess before you were arrested for assault," he snickered. "I didn't place the memory until I came back to town and saw Sheila again and learned you were her granddaughter. But even back then, I knew you'd only mature into a feisty, holds no bar, take no prisoners kind of woman."

As much as his compliment touched her, Bonnie felt a little peculiar only for the simple fact of their obvious age discrepancy. She had been a child the first time Damon saw her, whereas, he was the age he was now, frozen in time never moving forward or back, just stuck.

"Fast forward thirteen years and here you and I are," she said. "I'm trying so hard not to be grossed out by that."

"You? How do you think I feel? I could have changed your diaper, burped and fed you, and now…"

Bonnie bit her lower lip and looked at him saucily, "You give me bubble baths and put me to sleep."

He growled.

"You're a dirty old man, Damon," she teased.

He winked. "Don't I know it."

"But what were you doing in Mystic Falls back then? I thought you hadn't stepped foot here until after Stefan moved back?"

A faraway look came into his eyes before he answered. "I came to check on Emily's descendents. I wasn't sure if any remained in town after the witch burnings, so I wanted to do some investigating."

"Were…were you hoping that if one was around…he or she might help you open the tomb and rescue Katherine?"

"That thought did cross my mind," he pulled his lips into a tight line. "And we both know how that situation turned out. Old news. Let's not bring it up again, shall we?"

"Agreed. I'm hungry," Bonnie said.

They feasted on a meal fit for king and once they were done, Damon pulled Bonnie to her feet and they began dancing.

Her eyebrow raised in the air when she recognized the tune the quartet began playing. Bonnie blushed a little and looked up at Damon who was smirking at her.

"Are you trying to imply something, Damon?"

"What?" he asked feigning innocence. "I'm not trying to imply I invented sex. I merely…perfected it."

He twirled Bonnie around because let's face it he wasn't the best or smoothest dancer on the planet, but he could rock his hips back and forth. Bonnie, who knew he was kind of hopeless, placed his hands on her hips and moved her body to guide him. Damon was a quick study so it wasn't before long they moved as two sentient beings in complete and total symmetry.

They tried to keep things clean and not slip into X-rated territory because it was so easy for them, but from the noticeable bulge that was poking Bonnie in the stomach, Damon was ready to move on to dessert.

So after dancing to two more songs, Damon caught her by the arm and led her out of the hanger only this time they weren't heading back to the car.

"Where are we going?" Bonnie asked as she held her dress up so it would drag across the pavement.

"We have a flight to catch."

"Flight?"

Damon said nothing merely directed them towards a navy blue two seater plane. Bonnie climbed into the cabin with only the slightest hesitation and Damon followed sitting in the pilot's chair.

"When did you learn how to fly a plane?" she asked and watched as Damon flicked switches, turned dials, and checked the navigational system.

"I think some time around WWII. I thought it might be fun to go bomb some Nazi's but…my attention drifted to something else."

"Like what…eating Nazi's?"

He shrugged. "Maybe a few of them."

They were off in the air flying to wherever Damon was taking them. Her eyes drifted from staring at the scenery they flew over to the man who was piloting the plane. There was just something incredibly sexy about a man dressed in a tailored suit flying an airplane. She couldn't feel more like a Bond girl at the moment.

"Buckle your seat belt, honey," Damon announced. "We're about to land."

"Where are we?"

"The Poconos."

Her eyes grew as large as saucers. "As in the Poconos Mountains in Pennsylvania?"

"That would be the one—yes."

Damon landed the plane effortlessly. And upon exiting the plane they climbed into a black SUV which took them to a secluded cabin.

"Go have a look around. I'll be on the deck."

The first thing Bonnie noticed was the smell of the cabin. It naturally smelled of wood, pine, but also something spicy that she later identified as cinnamon. It was very rustic yet comfy at the same time.

Upon her discovery, Bonnie learned the cabin had three fully furnished bedrooms each of them equipped with log burning fireplaces and French provincial furniture. The master suite was quaint and intimate. The focal point of the room was the California king bed. It was massive, not quite as big and majestic as Damon's, but an agreeable alternative. Bonnie couldn't wait to snuggle underneath the cashmere duvet that covered it. Wood bean vaulted ceilings offered height and an airy space. A wrought iron chandelier dangled from the center blanketing the room in a golden luminescence.

Sitting on a bedside table was a bottle of champagne on ice, a platter filled with strawberries, a bottle of whipped cream, and a bottle of Hershey's chocolate syrup. She gulped nervously and tore her eyes away from the incriminating evidence and noticed that on the foot of the bed were complimentary his and her chenille bathrobes, and house slippers.

Bonnie slipped into the bathroom her eyes taking in the heart shaped Jacuzzi, the standing shower stall next to it. She wanted to freshen up so she brushed her teeth, flossed, reapplied her lip gloss, sprayed herself with perfume, and then…hesitated.

Her reflection gazed at her almost questioningly and she could do nothing but stare back. Her whole life she wanted to experience being important to someone and being the center of that person's universe. Her dad should have been the primary front runner in this case, but he often treated Bonnie like an afterthought. She had her friendships yet even those lacked and fell short of the mark often leaving her isolated, neglected, and bitter. But Bonnie had never been one to wallow in self-pity because it didn't help her achieve her goals. Part of her wanted to question why she was here with Damon. Was it out of necessity? Was it because he offered her another option rather than doing business as usual? Or maybe because he painted another picture of herself and she liked what she saw?

"You're being too analytical about things, Bonnie," she said. Pushing away from the sink, Bonnie retraced her steps back to the living room where she saw Damon standing on the patio.

They were surrounded by nothing but trees she noticed as she joined him outside. They stood side by side, nature watching for a moment prior to Damon pulling her closer and then planting Bonnie in front of him.

She rested her back against his chest and together they breathed as one. After a while he began to glide his fingers up her arms, causing her skin to pucker into goose bumps. Bonnie closed her eyes to deepen the sensation as his fingers rounded her shoulders and began to knead her muscles. She didn't want to leave him out so Bonnie reached backwards to wrap her hand around the nape of his neck, bringing his head down. Their lips crashed into one another, and then Damon undid the clasp which held the straps of her dress together.

The material fell down exposing her breasts to nature. The cool air stung them but Damon covered her mounds with his hands, enjoying the feel of her stiff buds as they brushed against the palm of his hands.

Blindly he unzipped her dress. The material billowed around her feet in a pool of chiffon leaving Bonnie in her heels and thong underwear.

She expertly unzipped his pants with her back still facing his front and pulled Damon's hardened rod from its solitary confinement.

When she attempted to turn around so she could feel him pressed up against her stomach, Damon prevented her from doing so. He released her lips, sunk down to his knees, and with his teeth pulled her thong off. Blood pumped furiously though Bonnie and though this was nothing new, she had the strong urge to cover herself. Being naked outside, no matter how secluded they were, Bonnie couldn't escape feeling as if their every move was being watched.

Damon stared up at her, eyes blazing with lust. The minute he was standing back at his full height, he unbuttoned and stepped out his pants, lifted Bonnie's left leg in the air, and then pushed himself into her.

They groaned simultaneously. Bonnie arched her back so she could get the maximum feel of Damon as he plunged into her over and over again. The slopping noises of his thick shaft sliding in and out of her dripping wet and tight heat was their new symphony. Bonnie grabbed on to the rail for support, her eyes snapped closed, her jaw slack as Damon stroked her long and deep.

All too soon she was coming close to her end because he was hitting that spot like a dancer doing choreography. Out here she could be as loud as she wanted, not having to mute herself so Stefan wouldn't hear—not like it ever mattered. And that's what she did, screamed, groaned, cursed, and frightened the wild life.

Damon grinned towards his protégé. Bonnie didn't know it but he was molding her into the type of woman he knew she always had the potential to be. She was the quintessential lady in the streets but a freak in the bed but she would only show this side of herself to him. He was falling for her—hard, and as scary as the realization was, Damon wasn't going to run from it.

Sweat peppered around her hairline and the middle of her back. Her right leg was shaking from the effort of having all her weight balanced on it but Bonnie was too afraid to move; it might disrupt the spell.

Damon gave one long deep thrust which was the straw that broke the camel's back causing her to burst apart like a piñata and rain her goodies all over his dick.

When she came her walls clamped down on him—totally unexpected was the force that instantly Damon followed right after her. He grunted as the heated sensation of emptying his balls damn near exhausted him, and he almost dropped Bonnie because his muscles all of a sudden felt like jelly.

Very slowly he lowered her leg, picked her up bridal style and flashed up to the master suite. He laid her on the bed, took her shoes off, and finished undressing himself. Once again they went right back at it.

"We didn't have dessert," Bonnie said between their fused lips.

Damon pulled away, grinned and then retrieved the platter full of strawberries, whipped cream, and the chocolate syrup.

They fed one another chocolate dipped strawberries until Bonnie almost felt sick.

"I want to try something," Damon reached his hand inside the pail that held the untouched bottle of chilled champagne. He scooped out a crescent shaped ice cub, placed himself between Bonnie's legs once more, and ran the cube across the top of her breast.

Bonnie jumped from the cold against her feverish skin, and jumped again when Damon traced the trail the ice left behind with his tongue. She arched herself accordingly as he dragged the ice cube down the center of her body, circled her navel with it, and then very methodically slipped the cube right into her.

"Arghhh," Bonnie said. That was a _very _weird and startling sensation and at first her body wanted to reject the foreign object, but then…the ice began to feel good and she noticed that it felt no different from Damon being inside her.

Since he was down there watching the ice cube being dissolved he might as well make the most of it and apply his tongue as well.

Bonnie nearly ripped the sheets apart with her finger nails. Ten minutes later she exploded again.

Damon climbed back up her body, chin covered with her lubrication. He nipped her lips and laid beside her.

It took a moment for Bonnie to heft herself into a sitting position. The room spun and she almost toppled over.

"Are my eyes crossed?" she asked Damon who chuckled.

"I don't think so."

Bonnie pushed past the vertigo grabbed the whipped cream and chocolate syrup and decorated the bulbous head of Damon's penis. She used the syrup to make a smiley face.

He could do nothing but shake his head. "I've never had anyone use me to do arts and crafts before."

She looked at him. "Don't act like you're not enjoying this."

And before he could say anything else, Bonnie swallowed her innovative creation whole. She took her time moving her mouth up and down, licking his shaft, and cupping his balls in her hand. Damon's back arched accordingly off the bed, his eyes unable to decide if they wanted to remain shut or stay open so he wouldn't miss a thing. He thrust his hips trying to match her sucking, but Bonnie would press down on his belly to keep him still in a silent reprimand that she was handling this.

Damon let go and let Bonnie take total control and he exploded with sweet exhaustion, never wanting to move from this place. Damon learned something very valuable: Bonnie was his match in every way.

By the time the night was over they had made a thorough mess on the bed. The sheets had to be changed. They took a shower, got distracted. Once they were done showering they toweled one another dry, climbed back into bed and just snuggled. Damon actually liked snuggling.

"What were you being too analytical about?" Damon asked.

Bonnie blushed a bit having forgotten that when he had his hearing tuned in, Damon missed nothing.

"I was just thinking about something's," she hedged.

"Like?" he persisted.

Bonnie sighed and ran her fingers over his day walking ring. "That when I think about the scope of my life…there haven't been that many people around who put me first."

Damon could certainly commiserate with her on that. When he was human he had to endure his father's constant criticisms and wrath. Nothing he ever did was good enough, and the move which caused Giuseppe to lose all respect for his first born, if there was any still left, was when Damon went AWOL on the Confederate Army. He didn't agree with the south's politics but more importantly he didn't want to die alone on a battlefield for a cause he didn't believe in.

He might not have been a slave, but he was one to society's expectations of the dutiful firstborn son, the heir.

"That's another thing we have in common, Judgey."

She rolled her eyes. "What did I tell you about that nickname?"

He held her a bit tighter. "I like it and just know its coming from a place of affection not sarcasm."

"As you were saying," Bonnie tossed a hand in the air.

"My mother…when she was alive was the only person who cared about me. I tried my dad's patience at every chance I got mainly because I didn't want to share my mother's love with him. He was an asshole, and this might sound bad, but I'm glad Stefan killed him."

"Yeah, that does sound bad," Bonnie agreed.

"But when I sit back and think about it…there haven't been too many people in my life who've put me first either. So I know where you're coming from."

"Do you think because deep down we're so much alike is why we couldn't stand each other last year?"

"Hey, I tried to be your friend," Damon argued.

Bonnie speared him with a 'let's be real' look. "You were pretending to try to be my friend when you were only after one thing. If you're going to tell the story, tell it right."

He laughed. "So you're asking me this question about us being similar to say what?"

Bonnie rested her chin on his chest. "I'm saying it to say thank you…for putting me first."

Damon peered down at her and saw the sincerity lining in her eyes. Hearing her thank him for putting her first caused another shift in their relationship. He saw nothing but raw emotion in Bonnie's eyes.

"Come here," he whispered. Bonnie shifted until she was straddling him. He ran his thumb across her bottom lip before cupping her cheek. "You want to know what I realized after what happened this morning? That you put yourself first."

Bonnie tilted her head in contemplation.

Damon went on to explain. "You could have easily bowed down to Elena's will and stopped the Damon/Bonnie train from running so your friendship with Elena could remain intact. But you didn't. You set the record straight and told it like it is, and that was my first time seeing you put Bonnie first."

He was right now that she thought about it. In the past Bonnie would have easily backed out of her relationship with Damon if it threatened her friendship with Elena because for so long that was one of the few stable relationships she had. But Bonnie had taken the reins of her life back into her own hands and she wasn't going to hand them over ever again.

"I can't ever knock you for not being observant," Bonnie said.

"When it comes to you I always am. Besides, I was never sure when you'd try to set me on fire just for the hell of it."

Bonnie snorted.

"I can't promise that I won't screw up at some point, but know, that having you in my life as my girl means the world to me."

Bonnie began to tear up. Smiling through her tears she bent down to capture Damon's lips between hers.

"When we get back," she said after pulling away. "I want you to come inside my home, and you want to know why? Because I trust you."

"You really shouldn't."

"I probably shouldn't," Bonnie concurred. "But I do." Bonnie settled against his chest as Damon buried his hand in her hair. He kissed the crown of her head.

"We're going to have an awesome future, Bonnie. I can _see_ it."

"Really?" she cocked an eyebrow in the air.

"Yep, just sit back and watch."

Chapter end.

**A/N: I'm trying very hard not to make Damon too sappy but then we've never seen him care for anyone or be in love with someone that wasn't driven by obsession, so I can't really say how he would behave himself in a serious relationship. Thanks so much for reading and the awesome reviews. Love you guys!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hi ya'll. Happy Labor Day!  
**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

Log cabins weren't known for their warmth and insulation and falling asleep next to a vampire certainly hadn't helped Bonnie retain any body heat. It was the freezing cold temperature of the room which woke her out of sleep far sooner than the sun rising over the horizon. The languid heat that cocooned her skin after a night of earth-shattering, paint melting sex had vanished leaving her shaking and shivering.

Bonnie sat up in bed and tried to stretch the stiffness out of her limbs, wiggled her toes to make sure they were still capable of movement, and wished she had packed more than a lacy nightgown for her trip.

She waited a moment before tossing the sheet and blanket off. Just as she tried to make an escape from Damon's room after the second time they slept together, she kept her eyes locked on him. This time he was lying on his stomach, his face buried between two pillows. Sliding carefully out of bed, Bonnie hissed quietly when her bare feet touched the floor. Cleverly she hopped across the floor on her way to the bathroom where she relieved herself, washed her hands and face, brushed her teeth, and then grabbed one of the chenille robes and threw it on.

As soon as she left the bathroom she made a beeline for her overnight bag and rummaged around until she found a thick pair of wool socks which she eagerly stuffed her feet in. She was still freezing but was beginning to feel warmth seep back into her body. Bonnie cast one final look at the bed, more to the matter at the man in the bed, admiring the slope of his right butt cheek that was exposed. She bit her lip, felt warmth pool into her nether region and fought against her mounting desire prior to slipping out and entering the kitchen.

Her stomach growled as soon as she opened the refrigerator. It was stocked with everything she liked to eat. Bonnie pulled out a carton of eggs, juice, bread, butter, thinly sliced turkey bacon, and a platter of fruit. Sitting everything down on the kitchen counter, she searched the cabinets for a frying pan. Finding everything she needed, Bonnie began cooking breakfast.

While she was in the process of plucking a grape from its vine, she got the urge to check her phone. She hadn't spoken with anyone since her and Damon's slip at the Gilbert house. Understandably she wanted to give everyone time to process the fact that she and Damon were a couple. They had been able to put their differences aside and realize they had more in common than meets the eye. She wouldn't go so far as to say they were cut from the same cloth, but they shared some of the same principles in terms of keeping those they loved safe and alive. The glaring difference with that were their methods. Bonnie preferred to think and rationalize a way out of a mess or to prevent something from happening, whereas Damon preferred to just kill whatever obstacle got in the way.

Bonnie switched her thoughts. If she took a trip down memory lane, she'd remember it wasn't that long ago she sat him on fire and that he viciously bit her neck to get back at Emily.

And of course Bonnie didn't want to think about her ancestors or Grams or the fact they would be severely displeased with whom she chose to be with.

But, as she thought about it, that was one particular area Grams had never discussed with her. Grams made it her business that Bonnie know the fundamentals of being a witch, however, she didn't exactly cough up details about their family history, nor the fact that so many Bennett women often walked the earth alone.

Sure some married and had families but the husbands, boyfriends, significant others, they came with a limited warranty.

Like she told Jeremy, it didn't end well for those like her.

Bonnie shivered again but not due to the cold. What if something were to happen to her and she died young—extremely young? What exactly would her legacy be? She had failed at killing an Original vampire although she couldn't take all the blame for that. Bonnie had done her part, held up her end of the bargain, but was betrayed. Thankfully there had been some good to come out of it. She was able to siphon John's life and pass it over to Elena.

Ethically many would think what she did was wrong, but it was John's choice. So long as the person chose to be a martyr she had no problem with it, but what she never hoped she'd do was take someone's choice away.

Moving away from the grapes, Bonnie wondered where her cell phone was. The last time she had it, she stuffed it in her purse. The purse had been thrown carelessly on the sofa the minute she stepped inside the cabin.

Retrieving her phone, she had three missed calls. One of them was from her father. She decided she'd return his call later. She wasn't in the right frame of mind to lie to him about her present whereabouts. The other two calls were from Caroline and Jeremy.

An elegantly arched eyebrow lifted when Bonnie saw she had a missed call and a voice mail from her ex. Again, she wasn't in the right frame of mind to listen to him rant and rave about what a mistake it was for her to be with Damon, and that she should give him another chance to fix what he broke between them.

Bonnie stuffed her phone back in her purse and reentered the kitchen.

Cracking open two eggs into a mixing bowl, she added chopped green and red peppers, onions, and added pepper and a tiny bit of salt. She was whisking the ingredients together when cold, muscular arms wrapped around her petite waist.

She didn't jump, only bit her bottom lip and kept on with her activity.

Damon rested his chin on her shoulder. "Do I need to handcuff you to the bed? That's the third time you've snuck out on me."

As a reprimand he smacked her bottom which caused Bonnie to yelp.

She glared up at him over her shoulder. "For your information I was attempting to make you breakfast in bed…but then I thought…he has two legs he can come get it himself."

Damon chuckled, kissed her neck, and headed to the fridge. Bonnie watched him out the corner of her eye and saw that he pulled out a blood bag.

"You know I only eat human food for pretenses." He held up the pouch. "This is my breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"It makes me less nauseated when I see you eat human food," she told him and poured the mixture into the hot pan which she had already pre-melted a teaspoon of butter.

Damon tugged the top off and slurped loudly, much to Bonnie's chagrin. She rolled her eyes and continued with making scrambled eggs.

Damon grinned and then took a seat at the kitchen island. "This is very domestic don't you think? You cooking breakfast in your robe. All I need is a newspaper and a smoking pipe."

She chortled and scooped the scrambled eggs out of the pan and dumped them on a plate.

"We could do this for eternity," he hinted.

Bonnie paused in her task and turned around to look at him. "What do you mean by that?"

In response he merely lifted a dark eyebrow and Bonnie caught on to his meaning. She frowned and was tempted to the throw the spatula that was currently in her hand towards his disheveled head.

"Not gonna happen," she said vehemently and turned around to add two slices of bacon to the hot pan.

"You say that now, Judgey but a time is going to come where you just won't be able to accept living without me by your side. There's no way I can become human again so the only logical step would be is if I turned you."

Something prickly, more than like rebellion began to race up and down her spine. How in the world, in just the span of a few hours had they gone from declaring they were boyfriend and girlfriend to sentencing her to a life of vampirism? As far as Bonnie was concerned she'd never turn. No matter what.

And, nature wouldn't allow her to be both a witch and a vampire. She'd be all vampire and the idea of drinking human blood for the rest of her life was about as appealing as eating lettuce for life as a human.

"Damon," she said in that whiny pitch that grated on his nerves. "Let's not get into an argument that could ruin the rest of our trip. I actually like you now and I want to keep it that way."

He smirked. "I like you, too. But we're going to have to face facts as they are. This problem won't be going away anytime soon."

"I get that," she agreed to that point. "But it doesn't mean I want to discuss it with my breakfast." Bonnie pulled the bacon out of the pan, added it to her plate, turned off the stove, and then joined Damon at the kitchen island sitting across from him.

"When are we leaving?" she asked and took a sip of her juice.

"This afternoon. There's a spa at the main resort if you want to get a massage. I'm actually scheduled to get a facial."

Bonnie stared at him drolly. "You? A facial?"

He hunched a shoulder and finished off his blood bag. "I'm metrosexual. I thought you knew this."

"That would explain a lot."

"I could cancel and then just chase you around this place for the next five hours. It's up to you."

Before she had the chance to answer, Damon's cell phone began to ring. He rolled his eyes and took his sweet time collecting it. He frowned irritably before answering.

"Why are you calling me, Elena?"

Bonnie almost swallowed her forkful of eggs down her windpipe.

Damon listened to her friend rant on the other end. Bonnie kept her eyes plastered on him and noticed that while Elena griped, Damon yawned, checked his nails, and scratched his side prior to saying:

"We'll be back in town soon enough. Look, I'm sure Ric and Stefan are more than capable of handling it."

Click. He hung up and negligently tossed his phone aside.

Damon sauntered back into the kitchen only this time planted himself behind Bonnie and plucked a strip of bacon off her plate and took a bite.

"What did she want?" Bonnie was tired of the redundancy of this question.

Damon walked two fingers down the center of her chest before boldly cupping a breast in his hand. "She was trying to pump me for information on my whereabouts. Rebekah tried to kill her last night."

Bonnie squirmed and tried to focus on the conversation, not on Damon feeling her up. "And she wants you to come home and do what exactly?"

"What I do best. Keep the original blonde off her back by seducing her," he snorted. "She must think I have rocks for a brain if I would fall for that ploy so easily. It's a clever plan. If I was to sleep with Rebekah again that would only prove to you how untrustworthy I am, and you'd be forced to crush my skull, set me on fire, and dump me in one fell swoop. And of course Elena could toot 'I told you so.'"

Bonnie could do nothing but shake her head. She had thought she made herself perfectly clear about her and Damon's relationship, but had to concede Elena was of a stubborn breed.

Bonnie polished off the glass in her juice, turned around to face Damon and wrapped her arms and legs around him.

"I don't want to waste anymore time talking about Elena," she pecked his lips. "I can think of some other way for us to pass the time."

Damon wiggled his eyebrows before throwing Bonnie over his shoulder and racing back to the bedroom.

Hours later Damon parked the rental on the tarmac, eyeing the sky as he climbed out of the SUV. Clouds were coagulating and the wind had picked up in velocity.

Bonnie too stared worriedly at the sky more anxious to get back to Mystic Falls. Damon packed their luggage away, helped her into the cabin, and went through his diagnostics before starting the plane and throttling it down the tarmac.

"Don't worry," he said through the headset. "We'll be in Mystic Falls before the storm starts."

* * *

_Yeah, right, _Bonnie thought twenty minutes into their trip. She had no aversion to storms. In fact she loved thunder and rainstorms. Where some liked to sit absolutely still when a horrible thunderstorm was raging, Bonnie had to fight with everything in her not to run outside and dance around getting soaked to the skin.

However, being on land during a thunderstorm was much different than being in the air. She could hardly see anything because the clouds were so thick. Instead, Bonnie tried to calm her racing heart, and merely soak in Damon's presence. But flying in the air while lightning flashed between the clouds was the last thing in the world she wanted to experience. And she tried not to jump every time a large, bright bolt stabbed between the clouds in two minute intervals.

"How much longer until we reach Mystic Falls?" Bonnie asked, hoping her voice was calm and steady.

Damon wasn't sure because he couldn't see a damn thing, but he constantly checked the navigational system and according to it, they were about a hundred and forty-five miles away.

He knew Bonnie was nervous, could feel it rolling off her skin in waves, could taste her mounting fear on his tongue. As much as he wanted to reassure her that they would be fine, that everything was under control, Damon couldn't exactly promise that because the weather was becoming progressively worse.

"We'll be there in another half hour," he replied and kept the plane steady. It might take a bit longer than that but he didn't want to scare her more than she already was.

Bonnie allowed the news to penetrate down to her bones. In half an hour they would be on the ground, away from the lightning and on their way to the shelter of the boardinghouse. If she could get comfortable enough to close her eyes and take a nap, she would, but Bonnie had convinced herself if she kept her eyes open it meant nothing bad could happen.

A bolt flashed some ten feet in front of the nose of the plane. She couldn't help it, she screamed.

Damon cursed and dropped down a few thousand feet. The clouds were still too thick and he didn't know for sure if they were flying over any open land where he might be able to make an emergency landing and let the storm pass.

"We'll be fine," he said to Bonnie offering a cinematic smile which she didn't return. Her fingernails were biting into his shoulder and he ignored the sting until…

A loud bang followed by hard jostling shook the plane. Damon lost control for a second. Bonnie screamed, screamed, and screamed. She had no idea if they were flying upright or upside down. She didn't care. She just wanted to get out of the plane. _Now!_

Soon alarms and beeps sounded making her grind her teeth on top of one another. Damon looked out of the right window, cursed again and began flipping switches.

"What?" Bonnie asked over the pounding of her heart.

"Oh, nothing, just that we lost the right engine. And…the plane's on fire."

Her eyes widened until they were seconds from popping out of their sockets. Bonnie snapped her head to look out the window and sure enough, smoke and fire was sprouting from the right engine.

"We're going to die," she moaned.

"No, we're not and I'm already dead," Damon told her and dropped the plane a few more thousand feet hoping he could clear the clouds and get a visual of their current location.

While he was doing this, Bonnie was going down a mental list of everyone she wanted to apologize to for being mean or unreasonable with.

"Listen to me, Bonnie!" Damon demanded over the roar of the plane. "We're going to make it through this. Trust me. I always get us out of life and death situations."

"Yeah, after placing us in one!"

He ignored that and then sighed in relief when he saw ground underneath the plane, only, they were far closer than they should be.

Lightning flashed again and took out the other engine. "Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me!" he raged.

Bonnie was holding her head in her hands. "I don't even want to know," she lamented.

"Judgey I need you to help me steady the plane. We're about a thousand feet off the ground."

"I'm sorry, but last I checked my name isn't Jean Grey. There's no way in the world I can help you steady this plane!"

"JUST TRY!" he snapped at her.

Bonnie glared at him fully prepared to tell him which circle of hell to go to and how to get there when she noticed that they were plummeting to the earth and if she didn't try to do something to lessen the crash, the plane would explode upon impact.

She closed her eyes and started rattling off spells. Bonnie squeezed her eyes tight and felt like she was attempting to push a hundred pound baby out of her. Damon was still busy doing whatever it was he was doing as she chanted.

"I think it's working," he said. "We're slowing down."

"Stop talking. You're breaking my…concentration…" she wheezed.

Blood began to drip from her nose. Damon caught the scent of it on the air and briefly looked at her. She was beginning to sweat as well.

Just as the plane had leveled out, Bonnie snapped her eyes open. "I can't…" she stuttered.

He couldn't question what she meant by that, because they were careening towards the ground, gaining speed. Letting go of the joystick, Damon reached for Bonnie, pulled her into his arms and said…

"Bonnie…"

The plane hit the ground and burst into a maelstrom of fire, smoke, and debris.

* * *

_She was some place filled with colors. So many colors for a second she thought she might be trapped inside of a kaleidoscope or a diamond. And there was extreme warmth beating against her skin. It was like she was sun bathing on a beach somewhere, but absent was the sound of the ocean._

_As she tried to listen for familiar sounds to get a grip on where she might be, Bonnie rolled and then sighed blissfully. Whatever she was lying on was so soft and tender that she felt compelled to cry. Was she on a bed? Was she in heaven?_

_She couldn't remember how she got here wherever here was, but she felt so much joy and warmth and serenity that she never wanted to leave._

_But there was something important she had to do. Her mind tried to push past the sensory images that were being beamed into her brain and remember exactly what she had to do. She came up empty whenever she focused her concentration on the last thing she remembered._

_Why couldn't she remember?_

_She turned over again, falling in love with the softness of whatever fabric she was stretched out on. The warmth increased. It didn't turn unpleasant, more like being a newborn in an incubator. She felt safe and secure; loved and needed._

_Yes, someone needed her; her mind suddenly had a flash of memory. And just as quickly as an image began to form, it disappeared like mist. _

_Oh, she'd figure it out later she promised herself as she rolled over and went back to sleep._

Bonnie's eyes snapped open. At first nothing was in focus. Everything was blurry as if she were staring at the world through waxed paper. Her eyes naturally fluttered to clear her vision but it didn't help. She could barely make out shapes but then realized that the chestnut surface her eyes were planted on was a ceiling.

She swallowed and the action caused her extreme pain. Bonnie winced and experimentally tried to move. She was only able to turn her head perhaps a degree or two to her left before a blinding pain raced up her spine and settled in her shoulders. She supposed that was a good thing. Next she moved her fingers. She was able to do so but it was accompanied by the stinging pain of blood circulating back to that area.

Little by little she shifted just to ascertain nothing was broken and that she wasn't paralyzed.

"Bonnie?" a familiar voice called her name.

Bonnie tried to turn her head towards the sound of the voice, but she couldn't. She went perfectly still at the sound of feet shuffling against the floor, and she felt the bed dip as someone sat next to her.

An oval face loomed over her as long raven-hair tickled Bonnie's arm.

"Bonnie?" the voice began tentatively.

Bonnie opened her eyes and tried to clear the sand out of them. After a moment the face came into focus and Bonnie recognized who it was playing vigil by her beside.

"E-," her throat protested and felt so scratchy a picture of her larynx being in shreds came to mind.

"Don't talk," Elena said and hopped off the bed. Bonnie didn't know what she was doing, but when Elena returned, she did so with a cup of water with a flexible straw. She stuck the object between Bonnie's chapped lips and the girl greedily sipped the refreshing water.

Something wet dropped on her face and Elena smiled and looked sheepish. "Sorry. I'm crying."

Bonnie figured that would be understandable. She had been in a plane crash, somehow managed to survive, and she might have been in a coma. Of course Elena would cry and Bonnie found herself crying, too. She wasn't dead. Hot tears slipped from the corner of her eyes.

"Let me prop you up," Elena offered and reached under Bonnie's shoulders, lifted her very carefully like a paper doll that might disintegrate, and quickly stuffed two large pillows behind her.

Bonnie coughed violently at the new position. Her body was stiff like she attempted to do a triathlon without properly training. It was like she hadn't lived in her body for months, packed it away like winter clothes, and was trying it on again.

Elena left her side for a moment and entered the bathroom. Bonnie listened as she turned on the sink and then came back into the room. She sat down next to Bonnie and wiped the tears off her face.

Tears fell unchecked down Elena's face. "I'm so glad you woke up," Elena cried and wiped her face with the back of her hand. "You've been…asleep for so long," she gasped suddenly. "I'm going to call Caroline."

She shot off the bed again and Bonnie wished she'd stay still for two seconds because all her moving was making her slightly nauseous.

Not ten minutes later the door to the bedroom flew open and Caroline stopped right in the threshold as she stared in disbelief at Bonnie. Her jaw dropped and very slowly she cleared the space which separated them before throwing her arms around Bonnie.

"Caroline, be careful, she's in a lot of pain," Elena admonished.

Caroline immediately let go and pulled back and when she did Bonnie saw that she was crying as well.

"Don't you ever do that to me ever again, Bonnie Bennett or I swear I'll kill you," Caroline threatened.

Bonnie attempted to chuckle but more like gurgled. "Sorry," she mouthed very quietly. Her throat was still on fire, her head was beginning to pound, and she wasn't exactly sure how much time she lost.

From the looks of things Bonnie was able to gleam she was at the Salvatore boardinghouse. Why she wasn't at the hospital vaguely occurred to her.

With both of her friends sitting on either side of her, clasping her hands, Bonnie had so many questions but most importantly she wanted to see Damon. If she survived it was a no-brainer he had as well. And if that were the case then why wasn't he at her bedside? Okay maybe he just stepped away for a moment; she'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

The next person to enter the bedroom was…

"Lucy," Bonnie wheezed and stared at the statuesque woman dumbfounded.

Her caramel-hued cousin with dark brown eyes smiled towards her. "Glad to see you're awake. You kept everyone scared for a very long time, but I told them you're a Bennett which means you're a survivor."

Long? Since talking was a daunting task, Bonnie hoped she was able to convey the question on her face.

Elena read her like a book, and tightened her hold on Bonnie's hand. "We'll explain everything. Dr. Fell is on her way. She's going to give you a neurological exam."

Someone else entered the room at that time. It was Stefan. Bonnie offered him a friendly smile which he returned and very tentatively approached her. He kissed her forehead. Things between them were weird because of the comment he made about being glad he'd get to see more of her now that she was with Damon. Bonnie was sure this wasn't what he had in mind, but as her eyes analyzed him in the sage way she used to do, on the surface he looked like regular old Stefan, not caught between reinstating his humanity and grappling with his actions as a ripper.

"Welcome back," he said.

A figure looming in the doorway caught her attention and Bonnie's smile brightened considerably.

Damon leaned casually against the threshold with his arms folded over his chest. His glacial eyes sparkled with their usual mischief. His lips were tilted in their typical self-serving smirk. In other words he was perfect because that's exactly how she remembered him, and so far the only thing making sense to her.

"Sleeping Beauty has finally arisen," he said dramatically. "And I didn't even get the chance to kiss her," he wiggled his eyebrows. Bonnie giggled, or at least tried to. "You actually look happy to see me."

"I am," she managed to get out without her voice cracking.

Damon pushed away from the threshold, entered the room, and when he was close enough, wrapped Bonnie in a somewhat awkward one-arm hug.

He pulled away before she could enjoy it or coax him to hold her a little tighter.

She frowned as she looked up at him. Damon stared at her curiously. Surprise fluttered on his face before he began to smile shyly again. "And if I'm not mistaken you actually look disappointed that I pulled away."

"Damon, please don't start," Elena ordered.

He held up his hands in surrender. "I'm not messing with her only stating facts."

Bonnie looked between Damon and Elena and wondered what was going on. Damon was acting formal and distant which he shouldn't be considering they were together so that gave him certain liberties like kissing her senseless upon her waking up from her coma.

Yet another body entered the room and since Bonnie had never seen her before, it was safe to assume she was Dr. Fell. And she was how Bonnie pictured her in her mind. She had midnight wavy hair that stopped at her shoulders, dark brown eyes, straight white teeth, but kind of a box shaped face. She was still a beautiful woman, no doubt.

"Hi, Bonnie, I'm Dr. Meredith Fell, I've been monitoring your case for the last month."

Bonnie blinked. She had been in a coma for a month? Longer? No one was telling her anything and she wanted answers. Her boyfriend was treating her like she was a cobra ready to strike and she wanted to know why.

"Let's give them some space," Stefan said to Damon and the two of them turned like sentinels and floated out of the room.

Bonnie sat up a bit straighter wishing her vocal cords would cooperate so she could call Damon back to her. What was up with him?

Caroline and Elena exchanged looks but otherwise said nothing.

Dr. Fell reached for her pen light and stethoscope, and slapped on a pair of latex gloves. "Can you tell me your full name?" she asked and checked Bonnie's pupil dilation.

Bonnie spouted off her name like an automaton. She was then asked a series of questions such as the current US President, the name of the town she was born in, and what grade she was in in high school.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions you'd like to ask," Dr. Fell said.

Elena had poured Bonnie another cup of water and Bonnie was sipping on it. "How long was I in a coma?" she asked.

Caroline took the lead on that one. "Four months."

Bonnie swallowed her water down the wrong pipe and coughed violently. Elena rapped her lightly on the back.

"Four months?" Bonnie questioned once her airway was clear. Several heads nodded in the affirmative. "From the plane crash?"

Worried glances were cast among all females present. "Bonnie," Elena began, "what's the last thing you remember?"

The girl in question licked her lips. "I was with Damon. He and I were coming back from Pennsylvania when lightning took out both engines of the plane and we crashed."

Caroline mumbled something incoherent under her breath. Meredith looked astonished yet noticeably troubled whereas Elena looked determined to clear up the obvious confusion in Bonnie's head.

"Bonnie, I think you were dreaming because…you weren't in a plane crash."

Bonnie just looked at Elena as if she had missed a very important memo.

"You did a spell…to bring Jeremy back from the dead…it worked but there was some kind of backlash and you fell into a coma."

Bonnie blinked her eyes rapidly. That wasn't right. She remembered asking Emily to send Jeremy back and she did, but she didn't fall into a coma because of it. No, she had been in a plane crash with Damon on their return trip from their first vacation as a couple. That's what happened.

"No, that's not what happened," Bonnie tried to deny.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Caroline said gently. "I know you're confused and we'll get everything straightened out when you're ready. But Alaric was with you and Jeremy that night. When you lost consciousness he brought you back here to the boardinghouse where you've been ever since."

Bonnie brought her confused and bright eyes over to her cousin. Had she been called in because her coma was a consequence of a heavy duty spell and only a witch would have been able to reverse what happened?

But then if what Elena and Caroline was saying was true, that she had been in a coma from the moment she brought Jeremy back then that meant everything that happened afterwards…_never happened_.

That meant she and Damon never slept together, they weren't a couple, and he certainly never took her to The Poconos. How could she have dreamt of a world where she'd end up with Damon Salvatore of all people!

"NO!" Bonnie raged. "That's not…" she coughed and couldn't stop coughing, and then her coughing turned into heart wrenching sobs.

Bonnie felt her blood pressure skyrocketing which prompted Meredith into action. "I think she's going into shock."

Bonnie was laid back down on the bed, and her left arm was being swabbed with an alcohol soaked cotton ball. Tears, hot and heavy rushed down her face in rivers. Fate wouldn't be that damn cruel as to make her fall for her enemy only to bring her back to reality and say she imagined it all. What the hell was she supposed to do with all those feelings inside her heart? How was she supposed to forget about the way he touched her, kissed her, made love to her with his hands, mouth, and tongue? There was no brushing that under the rug, writing it off, getting over it like it was a twisted Alice in Wonderland trip, a figment of her imagination.

Bonnie slapped a hand over her eyes wishing she could erase those conjured memories. But all she saw was a reel of the two of them together in every single illicit position known to mankind. All she could see was his bare chest under her eager hands. All she could picture was massaging Damon's tongue with her own.

"I need to be alone with her," Meredith said to the others. Everyone was reluctant to leave because they had never seen Bonnie so distressed before. She was the toughest when it came to handling and processing bad news. So it went without saying they were terrified.

"Is she going to be okay?" Lucy asked. She had stepped in when Damon tracked her down and demanded, not asked, that she find someway to bring Bonnie back to the living so Elena and Caroline could stop pouting.

Not only had Lucy come back to help her cousin, but she also helped with the Klaus situation, opening up the coffin that didn't turn out to be the weapon to kill Klaus, and doing whatever else was necessary to keep the town safe. Lucy was exhausted and she was twice Bonnie's age, so she could certainly commend her cousin for her strength because every week Lucy's services were needed to tackle some evil.

Meredith looked over her shoulder as she held Bonnie down on the bed. "She will be," was all she would commit to saying before turning back to her patient.

The three women shuffled out of the room closing the door behind them. They all stared at one another with uncertainty dancing in their eyes.

Back inside the room, Meredith was able to sedate Bonnie who relaxed against the bed, her cries ebbing into sobs.

"It's a lot to take in, Bonnie. But we're going to help you process what happened and catch you up on everything that you missed while you were in a coma."

"H-how…why-why…"

Meredith wasn't sure what she was trying to ask. "I don't have all the answers to your condition. Your cousin has been a big help in filling in some of the blanks, but…what exactly did you dream about?"

Like hell she was going to tell anybody that. Besides Meredith was a stranger and Bonnie undoubtedly wasn't going to divulge a single detail.

"I don't want to remember," she answered flatly and then her eyes drooped a bit. "It wasn't real."

Meredith never really studied patients in a coma before but most when asked what they remembered after coming out of it, they often replied they heard conversations around them, some dreamt, some experienced nothing at all aside from total darkness.

In Bonnie's case, because her friends loved her so much made it their business to talk to her, kept her abreast of everything that was going on around town. Apparently Bonnie was able to absorb that information and it manifested itself into an alternate reality like a dream, so to her what she saw behind her closed eyes actually happened.

And Meredith could understand why that would be crushing to Bonnie. She had essentially missed four months of her life but her dreams still made her apart of life. Only her alternate reality was that, an alternate reality in which things that would never happen in this reality did occur.

There were so many questions Meredith wanted to ask Bonnie, but knew she'd have to earn her trust first. Bonnie might open up to Elena and Caroline, or she might not.

Bonnie tried to remain lucid but the drug was quick and before long she was asleep again.

The next time she opened her eyes, they crashed into a pair of crystalline blue ones under a mop of jet black hair.

Cold fingers grazed her cheek. "You scared me, Bonnie. And I'm too cool to be afraid of anything."

Bonnie smiled, grabbed the hand that was tickling her face and kissed it. "This works both ways, Damon. You scared me, too."

He smirked. "How did I manage that? I've been on my best behavior."

She stared at him seriously. "Just promise me that whatever happens next, you'll fight for us."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Who will we have to fight?"

"Just promise," Bonnie reiterated.

"Okay. I promise. I will fight for us. Now…can we _finally _get naked?"

Chapter end.

**A/N: It's a semi-cruel thing to turn the last few chapters into a dream, but don't worry because this doesn't mean it's the end of this fic or the end of Bamon. Things are actually starting. It will be interesting to see Bonnie struggle with the reality that was formed in her mind compared to the one she's now living. But the question that remains is will this be a one-sided romance or will Bonnie step out of her comfort zone to achieve the ultimate goal and that's claiming Damon like she did in her coma. At the rate I was going, this story would have been over in approximately three more chapters. And to clear up any confusion, at the end she was dreaming again where in her reality she and Damon are together.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Here is the latest. Enjoy! **

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

"_Hey, baby."_

_Bonnie blinked her eyes while a crease formed in the middle of her forehead. "Grams?"_

_The woman known as Sheila Bennett paused in arranging different herbs to stare inquisitively at her grandchild. "Who else would I be? I know I look like Beyonce, but she has nothing on me."_

_Bonnie smiled a bit and felt the bottom of her green eyes lining with tears as she took a step further in her Grandmother's kitchen. Everything was the way she remembered right down to the smell._

"_Am I…am I dreaming?"_

_Sheila dumped a handful of corn kernels on the table. "You are."_

"_Why am I here?"_

"_Because you need my help."_

_Bonnie stopped her forward progress into the room. "Your help?" then she figured it out. "So that means you know."_

"_I do," Sheila wiped her hands clean and then sat down at the table and tapped the empty chair adjacent from hers. Bonnie tentatively sat down. "I'm not surprised," Sheila picked up the conversation. "I was hoping it would happen with the other one—Stefan because he actually has manners," she shrugged. Bonnie was lost. "But…Emily asked Damon to protect our family line for a reason."_

"_Wait, Grams," Bonnie held up a hand. "What are you trying to say? That Emily arranged for this to happen? Arranged for me to…" the words got stuck in her throat, "arranged for me to feel this way for Damon?"_

_It was hard to miss the turmoil on her granddaughter's face which prompted Sheila to reach for and clutch her hand. "No, baby, she didn't mean for that happen, but if anything were to happen to you, it was Damon's job to fix it, to protect you."_

"_But he didn't do anything," Bonnie argued vehemently. _

"_That you're aware of on a conscious level. I knew from the first time he stepped on my porch looking for you that things might lead down this course one day. But I always speculated he would be the one to fall first."_

_Bonnie bolted from the chair and began to pace the room. She ran frustrated hands through her hair._

"_You don't like him and you never trusted him. Why are you being cool about this? Why aren't you as angry about this as I am?"_

_Sheila stared patiently at her favorite grandchild, her only grandchild when she thought about it. _

"_Trust me, I am furious, Bonnie," her voice trembled a bit. "It's never a grandmother's dream for her grandbaby to fall in love with her mortal enemy…but these unfortunate things sometimes happen. I'm making peace with it." Pause. "But there are always other options."_

_Newfound hope found their way into Bonnie's eyes. "So I can get out of this while there's still time."_

"_Love doesn't work that way, I'm afraid."_

_Bonnie growled, "This isn't fair, Grams. I don't want to feel this way about him!"_

"_I know you don't, baby. But as such, you do. Now you have a choice to make. Will you suppress those feelings or give into them? That decision is yours alone to make."_

_Bonnie stared imploringly at her grandmother. "He's not…he's…" she couldn't get it out but Sheila caught her drift._

_She rose from her chair and approached Bonnie, taking the young woman gently by the arms. "Bonnie, listen to me. Sometime's even the wrong person to love is the right person for you. Do you understand what I'm saying?"_

_Bonnie thought very carefully over her grandmother's words before nodding her head. Damon on the surface was everything a girl should stay away from, him being a vampire notwithstanding. He just overall lacked certain qualities that made a good boyfriend. Bonnie wasn't so harsh as to say Damon didn't deserve love in any capacity, but she didn't want to shoulder the responsibility of loving Damon—alone. _

"_And you shouldn't consider what others will think of you because if you did that you will never be happy. All I've ever wanted for you was to be one of the few Bennett women to have a long life filled with love."_

_Bonnie cleared her throat. "He's a vampire!" she said strongly hoping to force this thought through her grandmother's head._

_Sheila pursed her lips together and Bonnie lowered her eyes. "I know exactly what he is because he makes it no secret. Like I said, Bonnie to pursue this or not is your choice, and you're going to have to make it soon."_

_Bonnie grabbed at the collar of her shirt. She began to feel overwhelmingly hot. Her eyes traveled over to the stove and she noticed the oven was wide open allowing heat to pour into the room. Sweat instantly popped out against her hairline and her clothes began to stick to her skin. Her mouth was growing dry and as she brought alarmed eyes to her grandmother, Bonnie discovered Sheila was as cool as a cucumber. _

"_How soon?" Bonnie's voice croaked. _

"_Like…right now soon. Wake up, baby. It's time to face reality."_

**When Bonnie became** aware of the fact she wasn't dreaming anymore is when the sounds of the house returned to her ears. She moved infinitesimally against the bed and grimaced because the sheets were damp with sweat.

As she slowly peeled one eye open followed by the other, her brain swam in her head instantly making her nauseous. She closed her eyes again.

A cold hand touched her on the forehead causing Bonnie to recoil from the caress.

"She's running a fever," spoke a voice with clinical precision only doctor's used.

Something was inserted in her ear and not a second later a beep sounded that echoed a thousand times louder to Bonnie than what it probably was. In any case it made her head pound.

"She's running a hundred and three degree fever. We need to get her out of bed and into a lukewarm bath."

"I don't think she's out of sedation just yet," Bonnie recognized Lucy's voice.

"I have a better suggestion…vampires steal body heat. And in order to break a fever you have to starve it. It would make better sense if I got into bed with her."

Several people sucked their teeth and Bonnie was sure eyes rolled like dice.

"Damon now is not the time to be a pig," Elena admonished.

"I'm not trying to be a pervert but if you stick her in the tub someone would have to get in with her to make sure she doesn't slip underwater and drown. My way is better and it'll work faster. I should know."

Although her eyes weren't open because every time she tried the earth decided to do a clever two-step, Bonnie was familiar enough with the protocol to guess everyone was looking to Stefan for confirmation to his brother's claim.

"It could work," Stefan said uneasily.

Bonnie tuned out the rest of the debate and merely replayed Damon's words in her head. He wanted to essentially crawl into bed with her and do what exactly? Just lie beside her or wrap her in his arms?

She wasn't left with much time to ponder those questions because the bed dipped and an ice cold body was pressed against her. Bonnie went absolutely still because part of her still questioned if this were the real world or the dream world. When the bed dipped again and she felt a frosty sensation beat against her back, Bonnie was unsure of who was behind her. In any case she chanced wiggling closer to the first source of comforting chill despite the fact her teeth wanted to chatter.

Feet shuffled to the exit and the door to the room closed.

Damon looked at Stefan over the crown of Bonnie's head and narrowed his eyes. Both he and his brother—who had been swindled into joining him and Bonnie in bed to make sure Damon kept things clean—were topless. Well, Damon amended, Stefan had only agreed to dress down to his white wife beater, Damon of course took the au naturel route. There were just too many things wrong with this picture, he thought though. Yet Bonnie's health and recovery were at stake so that meant propriety was the first thing to get thrown out the window. Besides, Bonnie more than likely wasn't cognizant of what was happening. Hopefully. He certainly wasn't in the mood to have her self-righteously ooze his brain from his nose if she just all of a sudden became lucid and saw what new predicament she was in.

"Never thought we'd be in this position, hun, Stefan?"

"No talking, Damon. I'm already trying not to be weirded out by this."

Bonnie lay between the brothers spoon style with her head resting against Damon's chest. Stefan for his part tried to get as physically close to her without inappropriately touching her anywhere below the waist. She might be out of it and drugged up but she was still an innocent young girl and he was still a man whose body could respond to the slightest bit of stimulation whether purposeful or inadvertent.

And despite the fact she was covered in a light film of sweat she still smelled delicious and the heat beating off her skin called to him in ways a blood bag never could.

Damon draped his right arm very lightly over Bonnie's waist. For her being in a coma for four months without eating or drinking, she wasn't skin and bones. Everything about her still remained the same except her hair was much longer and the rich caramel tone of her skin had yet to return.

On occasion he did wonder if she dreamt or if in her mind there was nothing but an endless, black void. He thought back to just hours ago when Bonnie miraculously woke up, and experienced shocked relief the moment he heard her soft voice, heard her talking to Elena in confused and disjointed words. But what astonished him the most was the way her face lit up when she saw him. It was like she had been expecting him and was genuinely happy to see him.

That certainly hadn't been the reaction he anticipated from Bonnie. If anything, Damon was fully prepared for her to say something snarky and prickly while she subsequently wrote off his existence like he was an annoying bill collector. Always in your face and almost inescapable.

But that's not what happened.

Maybe being "gone" for four months made people reevaluate some major things in their lives.

Bonnie wiggled closer to him causing Damon to tense as he waited for her to get more comfortable. He couldn't see her face from this angle, but already he could feel her body temperature drop half a degree and he and Stefan hadn't been in bed with her for more than fifteen minutes.

"I wonder if she's dreamt this whole time," Damon ruptured the silence.

"Maybe you shouldn't talk," Stefan advised and then stabbed his eyes back on the ceiling.

"What's with the attitude, Stefan? I'm just trying to make general conversation so laying here doesn't feel like a chore."

Stefan lifted his head off the pillow to glare at his brother. "And I'm simply trying to keep my mind off the fact that I'm laying in a bed half naked with my brother and a witch."

Damon chuckled and unconsciously tightened his hold around Bonnie's waist who snuggled even closer to him, so close he felt her cheek resting against his sternum.

"Sounds like a damn good porno in the making don't you think?"

"You're sick," Stefan growled and slapped his head back on the pillow.

Bonnie shifted again and now her lips were semi-pressed next to Damon's Adam's apple. One eyebrow flew into the air, and rose even higher when Bonnie latched on and began to suckle.

"She's nibbling on me," he said in half-complaint, half astonishment.

Sighing, Stefan retorted, "And?"

Damon hunched a shoulder. He angled his head away from Bonnie who made an incoherent sound as if she were bereft at the loss of contact between them. To test out a theory that was formulating in his mind, Damon deliberately tucked her head between the space where his neck and shoulder met and waited.

Perhaps another half hour went by before he felt the flutter of her lips seeking out his skin. A devilish grin spread across his face.

"_Damon…_" her voice was tiny and child-like and almost inaudible. Bonnie had transferred her hands to his chest, and got even closer to Damon that it was difficult to see where one began and the other ended.

"Yes?" the vampire in question replied.

Bonnie went grave silent.

More time passed before Bonnie began shivering. This prompted both brothers to get as close to her as possible—almost trapping her. Her ass was molded against Stefan's crotch which in term he thought about decapitated bunnies, dog vomit, any and every unpleasant thought he could conjure so he wouldn't pay attention to that one major fact. The front of his thighs was practically glued to the back of Bonnie's.

"We should check her temperature," Stefan suggested through gritted teeth.

Damon chuckled at noticing how uncomfortable Stefan was. Yeah, he was well aware of the fact it had been close to a year since the last time he was properly laid. Getting an erection now, and especially while Damon was there probably had Stefan climbing up the proverbial wall.

Reaching blindly for the thermometer, Damon placed the instrument in Bonnie's ear and read the read out once it calculated her temperature.

"She's at hundred."

"Oh, great," Stefan sounded anything but relieved.

Another hour and some change passed and Bonnie began to stretch her legs and arched her back which unfortunately crushed Stefan's balls even closer to his leg. He ignored that before allowing relief to wash into him that her fever had broken and he could get the hell out of the room before he embarrassed himself.

Damon loosened his hold on her just a tiny bit. Bonnie frowned and then her eyes fluttered and opened.

Curious cerulean eyes gazed back into her confused emerald orbs. Bonnie couldn't say with a hundred percent certainty this was the real world because apparently only in her "dreams" did Damon ever get this close to her.

"Damon?" she questioned.

"In the flesh, Judgey."

"Is this…is this real?" her fingers itched to trace his face.

He pinched her. Bonnie yelled and attempted to slap him but her arm, it felt heavier than usual so the blow had all the power of a piece of dust landing on him.

"What's going on?" Bonnie said while attempting to clear the frog out of her throat.

"You had a fever so we had to bring it down."

Bonnie's frown deepened. "We?"

"Hi."

Bonnie gasped and snapped her head to look over her shoulder. Her eyes widened to ET size when they came crashing down on Stefan dressed in a wife beater. Bonnie swiveled her attention back to Damon and noticed he was shirtless. Armed with this information Bonnie very tentatively looked down at herself and sighed in relief. She was still clothed in her night gown.

"Don't worry we didn't have an orgy," Damon tried to reassure her. "You were running a 103 temperature and it was at my ingenious suggestion to snuggle up and steal your body heat as a way to starve the fever. I think you'll be okay."

She closed her eyes briefly to stave off the disappointment that was pressure cooking in her neck. He was there for "medicinal" reasons and not because he simply wanted to hold her while she slept.

"I need to use the bathroom."

"I'll get Elena." Stefan leapt out of bed as if it someone stuck him in a frying pan. He was out the room in a blur that it made Bonnie's eyes cross.

Damon snorted, disengaged himself from Bonnie and then reached for her hand to pull her out of bed.

Her body felt like she had been pumped full of lead and concrete. "Wait, wait, wait, you're moving too fast," Bonnie wheezed. Every time she moved the world took her on a rollercoaster ride that made her stomach contents or lack thereof flip flop. Very carefully she slid one leg out of bed, placed it on the floor following by the other. The whole while Damon held on to her fingers.

Bonnie dragged her gaze from his belt buckle over his superior abs, those well-proportioned pectorals, along his strong thick neck, that edible jaw line, those tittie devouring lips, sharp nose, before finding their home in his breath stealing azure eyes.

Her heart began to pound.

Damon tugged her lightly by the hands prompting Bonnie to stand on her feet. Very slowly she did, her knees wobbling like a Jinga stack about to crash.

Damon took a step backwards handling Bonnie like a toddler learning to walk, and in a way she was. The unused muscles in her legs were screaming in protest and Bonnie gritted against the pain as she shuffled her right foot, then her left, trying to steady herself. She could barely feel the floor under her and thought if Damon let go for just a tenth of a second her nose, and teeth would break her fall.

But he never let her go and it might have taken another twenty minutes to get her stabilized in the bathroom. Bonnie was impressed with his patience. However, she avoided making eye contact with him. As sweet and kind as he was being, he wasn't the Damon who populated her dreams.

"I got it from here, Damon," Elena walked into the bathroom and grabbed Bonnie around the waist and cleared the foot of space that separated Bonnie from the toilet.

Damon said nothing as he bowed out of the bathroom, closing the door to give them some privacy.

Bonnie was exhausted from doing that one simple thing, so when Elena suggested she take a shower Bonnie almost began to cry. There was no way she could stand on her own for that long without toppling over, and besides she didn't want to shower because then…she'd lose Damon's scent.

Because they were so entwined on the bed, she smelled only his scent every time she inhaled. Bonnie didn't know the brand of cologne he preferred to wear, but it fit his personality to a tee. It was strong, masculine, but also had a fresh scent to it.

"What time is it?" Bonnie asked as she held on to the sink and examined herself for the first time in four months in the mirror. She wasn't startled by what stared back at her. Bonnie surmised she'd look exactly the same, however, the only startling difference was the fact her hair was almost as long as Elena's yet its once luscious dark chocolate color had faded to a muddy brown. In fact even her pallor had washed out giving her the sickly color of the diseased.

Spending some time in the sun would remedy that and have her looking more like herself and less like a zombie.

Elena checked the time on her watch. "It's a little after eleven in the morning. Why?"

"Is the sun out?"

"Yeah. It's a beautiful day. You want to go outside?"

Bonnie turned away from the mirror to look at her friend. She nodded her head. "I'd really like to get some fresh air and see the outside world because all I've seen…" Bonnie stopped abruptly as pain lanced through her heart. In her dreams, her world was becoming damn near perfect.

Elena spotted the sadness on Bonnie's face. She tossed the towel she had been folding aside and reentered the bathroom. Very lightly she laid a hand on Bonnie's shoulders, saw her chin quiver and pulled her into her arms.

"I know everything is confusing for you right now, Bonnie, but you're going to be okay. We're going to get you caught up on everything."

But she didn't want get caught up on everything because the details would have been missing a huge factor. Bonnie would have preferred to wake up with an amputated arm or leg rather than to deal with the feelings in her heart for a certain vampire. Feelings she couldn't tell a soul about.

Bonnie pulled away from Elena and wiped at the tears that spilled on her cheeks. In a house full of people all she wanted was to be alone, but she had already spent so much time alone. Only her dreams and fantasies had kept her company.

Elena sniffled. She couldn't fathom what Bonnie might be experiencing emotionally as well as physically. She just wanted to be there for her friend. Yet Elena recognized the signs that Bonnie wanted to push her away. She'd give her space, but not isolation.

"Let's get you cleaned up," Elena said and turned on the bathtub faucet.

**Thirty minutes later **it took an army to get Bonnie downstairs and out on the patio where a table had been set up so everyone could have brunch and Bonnie could get some much needed fresh air.

Her eyes squinted against the onslaught of sunlight stabbing her orbs. Caroline had handed Bonnie a pair of shades, but she refused them. Bonnie ignored the stinging pain, wiped the tears off her face, and merely looked at the green trees, the grass below her feet, the blue cloudless sky.

The wind picked up velocity and blew her long hair across her face. Bonnie remained unmoving and unaided. She could stand on her two feet without assistance, but it was walking she needed help with.

Her head fell back as the wind caressed her as if welcoming her back to the land of the living. A butterfly with neon yellow wings landed on her shoulder. Bonnie smiled at the tiny, majestic insect.

"I missed this…" she said to no one in particular, and then turned slowly on her feet and saw that everyone was staring at her as if expecting her to drop dead or lose consciousness again.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and held out a hand for someone to help her to the table. Alaric stepped up to the plate.

Her muscles groaned in relief the moment Bonnie planted her butt in a chair. Conversations began to flow like champagne as question after question was directed at her.

Alaric, Lucy, and Meredith were curious about what she experienced while she was in a coma.

Bonnie was able to fill in the blanks of what she recalled hearing and how it manifested itself in her dreams. Meredith was astounded that Bonnie's unconscious mind was able to keep her apart of Mystic Falls' life although physically she was incapable of doing so.

Yet Bonnie made several omissions especially in terms of her own personal relationships. She was debriefed on the ghosts of the tomb vampires reeking havoc on the town, to Jeremy's infidelity, and every rotten thing that happened with Klaus.

After that dissertation was over, Meredith took her leave citing she had to get down to the hospital. Alaric had shown her to the door.

"We can show you the book later," Caroline offered and took a sip of orange juice.

Bonnie paused in adding strawberry jam to an English muffin. "Book?" her eyes darted between her two best friends. "What book?"

Elena jumped in. "It's a chronicle of everything that's happened in the last four months. We knew you'd wake up one day and you'd want to know what went down, what happened, and where everybody stands."

Bonnie's eyes of their own volition went over to Damon. He had changed into a light gray shirt, his requisite black jeans, yet his eyes were covered with jet-black Armani shades. His phone vibrated against the table and he quickly answered.

"Liz!" he said and rose from the table.

_Eyes, Bonnie, _she admonished herself yet found those stubborn orbs glued to Damon's backside as he began to pace fifteen feet away.

Reluctantly Bonnie dropped her gaze back to her English muffin, no longer hungry. Elena was still talking, but it was a muted sound in Bonnie's head, as she found herself staring at Damon's impressive back again.

She smiled a little when she remembered saying Stefan had a hot back. Damon's back was ten times hotter, and yeah she might be a little biased but she knew every line and shape of Damon's back, his ass, and legs too, and unconsciously she licked her lips. There hadn't been a part of Damon's anatomy she didn't grip, kiss, lick or fondle, and to have him so close yet so faraway, made warmth in shades of lust, hurt, and anger course through her bloodstream igniting her like a match.

Waking up next to him had been sweet torture. Her skin had been at a crossroads, between heaven, hell, and earth. It had been heaven to see his eyes staring back at her, hell that she wanted to kiss him but realized they didn't share that relationship, and earth because she had a role to resume that she no longer fit into.

If they had been totally alone at the time Bonnie might have attempted—no she _knew _she would have let her fingers do some walking over his exposed flesh. And Damon being Damon wouldn't have stopped her, at least not for a while.

She imagined slipping her dainty hand into his jeans and reaching for that impressive erection of his, feeling it lengthen and beat in her palm, and she would have traced her finger over the bulbous head spreading his…

"Bon? You okay?"

Elena's question shattered the dirty thoughts in Bonnie's mind. She hastily nodded her head.

Damon, after ending his phone call, rejoined the group.

"Something the matter?" Elena asked. Damon shook his head and then began to engage Lucy in conversation.

Naturally this caught Bonnie's attention and it was hard to miss the familiarity they had with one another. From what was shared with Bonnie thus far she knew that Lucy had taken up her helm as—and she hated to use this phrase—the resident witch riding in on her broom and vanquishing whatever freak-of-the-week decided to stop by and say hi. So during that time Damon was able to woo her cousin over to the dark side and show he wasn't as wretched as he once made his reputation out to be.

They were huddled so close together that whenever Lucy moved, her arm brushed up against Damon's. And neither one of them appeared to be inclined to put a modicum of space between them.

However, Damon sat back in his seat but threw his arm over the back of Lucy's chair. She too sat back, and Bonnie wasn't sure, but she was fairly sure Damon was using his thumb to trace shapes on her cousin's flawless skin.

It took a minute for Bonnie to realize she had ripped her napkin to shreds while Lucy and Damon behaved completely rude by having their own private conversation at a table full of people.

Damon leaned over and whispered something in Lucy's ear. Whatever he said made her bellow with laughter, so much that she actually tossed her long color treated hair over her shoulder. Bonnie's eyes went over to Damon—he appeared to be entranced.

"I think I've gotten enough air," Bonnie said abruptly and rose from the table. All the men present aside from Damon instantly got to their feet to help Bonnie inside the house.

Taking Alaric and Stefan by the hand they led her back inside which Elena and Caroline followed the procession.

Lucy stared worriedly at the French double doors her cousin just disappeared into. "She's upset," she whispered more to herself yet Damon felt compelled to add his own two cents.

He picked up his coffee cup. "That's part of her charm, being mad for no damn reason."

Lucy rolled her onyx eyes before looking at Damon. "I see why the two of you hit it off when you first met. You're just a bucket of charisma, Damon."

The dark vampire shrugged before grinning. "What can I say? I'm a chip off the old block. But you should probably head on in there to see what's wrong with her."

Lucy looked affronted he would tell her how to handle her cousin, but figured he had a point. Lucy was a powerful witch in her own right, but in something's she was much a novice like Bonnie. However, Lucy had always been good at reading people and emotions—auras if you will, and what she saw steaming off her cousin would frighten a terrorist.

She rose from the table leaving Damon with his thoughts.

Lucy found Bonnie in one of the private study rooms. She quietly closed the door behind her.

"Yes?" Bonnie said without turning around. She stood before one of the windows allowing the sun to bathe her in light.

"I know you're probably tired of everyone asking you this question, but are you all right, cuz? The obvious answer would be no, you aren't. You've lost four months of your life and while everything appears the same on paper, it's not. How are you adjusting to that?"

Bonnie kept her gaze locked on the window a minute longer prior to turning around and facing her cousin.

She was always a little startled by how beautiful Lucy was. She was statuesque standing at five-nine, way over average height for a female, and she could look most men right in the eye. Her pin straight hair was thick and long stopping just six inches shy of her waist. And she had nice lips, lips men would probably start fist fights over just to have the privilege to kiss. When Lucy talked, you listened because her voice was soulful filled with knowledge yet also mystery.

Of course Damon would be drawn to her based off those superficial reasons alone.

Bonnie dropped her eyes to her own person. She was short, not exactly stubby. Sometimes her hair couldn't decide if it wanted to be curly or wavy, and her left eye was higher than her right, and her mouth was kind of off centered on her face giving her the appearance of a Picasso painting. And her experience with men was severely limited.

Next to her cousin, Bonnie couldn't feel more like a woman-child.

She shrugged. "I'm dealing in the best way I know how," she answered.

Lucy nodded and then joined Bonnie at the window. "You don't know how many different spells I tried to find some way to get in your head and coax you back to our side. Nothing seemed to work, until…"

Bonnie looked up at her expectantly. She hadn't asked too many questions on what was done to bring her back. Mostly because she had been too preoccupied with thinking about that damn Damon Salvatore.

"Until what?" Bonnie asked.

"Until I thought binding your life with someone would do the trick."

Bonnie gulped nervously. "Did you?"

Lucy shook her head. "Your spirit resisted…almost like it was already attached to someone."

She couldn't help it. Bonnie felt her body temperature spike as she thought of the implication.

"You didn't say much to Elena and Caroline about the last thing you dreamt about before you woke up. And though I'm still just a stranger to you-,"

Bonnie took her cousin by the arm and the two of them sat down on the love seat. "You're my family and you should know this," Bonnie began, "but the last thing I dreamt about was being in a plane with Damon, lightning took out both engines, and we were going down.

"I guess I've just dispelled the myth that if you die in your dreams you die in real life," Bonnie laughed humorlessly. "The plane crashed and on impact is when I woke up. I didn't feel fire, I didn't smell smoke, and it was like the impact was strong enough to knock me back to consciousness."

Lucy nodded her head and lifted her brows in wonderment. "That's…incredible," she murmured slowly. "Do you remember what you were doing before that?"

Yes, she did and was going to plead the fifth for the rest of her life. Bonnie hated being dishonest, but she shook her head in the negative.

"Do you find it shocking that you were with Damon and not either of your friends or Stefan? I don't know the full history between you and the elder Salvatore, but from what I've been able to gather…things weren't good between you two for a long time."

"We hated each other," Bonnie stated matter-of-fact. "He attacked me when Emily Bennett possessed my body to destroy the crystal that would break the spell keeping the vampires entombed. And I sat him on fire because Caroline killed someone after becoming a vampire and I blamed him."

Lucy merely looked at her unsure of how to respond to something like that.

"Are you sure you two have never had sex?"

Bonnie's eyes enlarged and her mouth plopped open.

Lucy laughed and waved a hand in the air to dismiss her last question. "Never mind. I don't even know why that popped up in my head."

Bonnie licked her lips before saying, "Have you and Damon…"

It didn't take a genius for Lucy to figure out what her cousin wanted to know. She shook her head and then smiled sadly.

"Well, we came close. Once," she added hastily.

Bonnie felt both her jugular vein and carotid artery beat furiously. And for once she was glad she wasn't prone to violence because her slender hands would have been wrapped around Lucy's neck otherwise.

Lucy felt the air shift and weigh down on her like bricks. She stared at her cousin wearily.

"We stopped because he didn't think it would be smart for the both of us to get involved since we were working together. I agreed. Trust, I don't make it a habit to bed vampires. Yet for him I was willing to make an exception."

Bonnie clutched the arm of the sofa and heard a rip. She jumped up from the chair and clamored her way back to the window.

Lucy rose to her feet as well and inspected the damage to the furniture. She then brought those knowing obsidian eyes to her cousin.

"Bonnie…I don't mean to make you upset."

"It's fine, Lucy," she replied a bit brusquely.

"It's not…especially not if you have…"

Bonnie turned around so sharply her legs gave out and she fell, but not without clipping her hip on the corner of the desk that sat caddy corner to the window.

"Bonnie!" Lucy rushed over to her cousin who was crumpled on the floor holding her side.

Bonnie wheezed and tried to catch the breath that had been knocked out of her.

Alaric rushed into the room. "What happened?"

"She moved too fast and lost her footing. She caught her hip on the corner of the desk."

Alaric easily lifted Bonnie into his arms and carried her back to her room where she was sentenced to remain for the rest of the night.

**It was nearing the midnight mark **and Bonnie was wide awake. She was terrified of going to sleep, terrified to face the Damon who could make her orgasm to the point she forgot her own name.

She sighed heavily when her bedroom door was pushed open and naturally he would be the one to stroll into the room.

"You're still up."

Bonnie lifted her eyebrows as if she wanted to say "No shit, Einstein."

Damon sat down on the edge of the bed, holding a glass tumbler that was filled with a shots worth of blood.

There were so many things that ran through Bonnie's mind, but she wanted to start out with the most important topic: Why did you almost sleep with my cousin?

"I was going to sleep soon," Bonnie admitted.

Damon bobbed his head and then made eye contact with her. "I thought sleeping would be the last thing you'd want to do."

Bonnie shifted against the pillows, sitting more upright. "I have good dreams." Pause. "Thank you for what you did for me earlier today."

"No problem. Hold on a second," he said and suddenly reached over and touched her very gently on the neck.

Bonnie tried her best not to have any kind of reaction to that miniscule contact, yet her body shivered anyways.

When he pulled his hand back Bonnie saw that a ladybug was crawling over his fingertip. Damon rose from the bed and headed in the direction of the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" Bonnie climbed out of bed as best she could, and shuffled her way over to Damon.

She was getting better at walking on her own, but ran into trouble if she sat still for too long and then attempted to move.

Damon flicked on the light in the bathroom. "I'm going to give it a bath. What do you think?" He lifted the lid to the toilet.

"No," Bonnie said and rushed in as fast as she could, reached for Damon's hand, took the ladybug into her custody and then retraced her steps back into the bedroom. Bonnie opened the window, and placed the ladybug on the far ledge of the window.

Damon snorted. "That thing is probably going to get eaten by a cockroach. And I could have spared it from that fate if you had let me flush it down the porcelain throne."

Bonnie closed the window. "Out there it has a much better chance of survival."

Damon probed her with bored eyes.

Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest. "Get out," she said stubbornly. "I'm not going to argue about a stupid ladybug."

He smiled. "Now it's a stupid ladybug when two seconds ago you were about to turn PETA activist on my ass."

Bonnie snickered.

They grew quiet for a second. "I just wanted to say good night before I turned in," Damon explained.

"Good night," Bonnie said.

"Do you need help with anything before I go?"

Surprise was clearly etched on her face. "You're offering to help me without someone threatening to put your head through a wall?"

He grinned and approached Bonnie, looming over her, making her feel three feet tall, his eyes raking her over in that way he did. "I'm only difficult because it gives me something to do. It's my hobby, but...I'm not a dick _all _the time."

"Right," Bonnie said skeptically. "I'm fine. I'm just going to collapse into bed and try to have a sweet dream."

"Not a beautiful nightmare?" he teased with a wink.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and sighed. "Be gone, Damon."

"A man gets no respect in his own home," he grumbled as he made his way to the door.

Just as he placed his hand on the doorknob, Bonnie had a change of heart. "Damon?"

He swung back around to face her. Bonnie crooked her finger signaling him to approach her again. He did.

Bonnie stared up into his eyes wondering if something might flicker or there'd be some recognition that what she experienced in her dreams between them, he had somehow experienced as well.

And it appeared that no matter how much she stared at him, nothing other than curiosity was reflected in Damon's eyes.

Sighing, Bonnie stared at her feet. "Never mind. Good night, Damon."

He lifted her chin with his index finger, his eye color deepening to near indigo. Bonnie licked her lips and felt her heart rate speed.

Damon dipped his head and kissed her forehead. "Good night, Bonnie."

Bonnie turned on wooden legs and fell face first on the bed.

Chapter end.

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who left me their thoughts last chapter. Muy appreciated! This chapter pretty much speaks for itself. We'll see Bonnie struggle with her attraction to Damon and how that will one day open his eyes to how truly awesome she is. I really don't understand JP's aversion to this ship but in my opinion it makes a lot more sense than what we're forced to watch every Thursday. Aw well. Thank you once again for reading! Love you guys!  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I just think this chapter is so cute. Read on for details. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

Warm tears gushed down her cheeks in rivers as she held on tightly to Matt. They remained that way for a ridiculously long time before the high school athlete pulled away. Shamelessly unshed tears lined his crystalline eyes as well.

"I can't believe you're awake," Matt said in astonishment as he ran his eyes over Bonnie again. He was one of the few citizens of Mystic Falls who wasn't ignorant of the supernatural mammoth his home town was, yet he partook of none of its shenanigans. Matt Donovan's life had never been normal despite trying to carve his own slice of an American Pie life. His father took off when he turned two years old. His mother—she was more concerned about perfecting her tan and happy hour. Not exactly stellar examples of what a stable life should be like, but Matt did the best he could to support himself.

In a lot of ways he considered Bonnie his kindred spirit. Her mom took off when she had just come out diapers, and her father was always out of town on business of which Matt had no idea what the man did for a living. He and Bonnie were the kids their friends' families took under their wings—not out of pity, but because they were good, loveable kids who had been dealt an unfair hand.

But not only was Bonnie one of his closest friends, she was like a little sister to him. They watched one another's back, and whenever something bad happened to him, Bonnie had been right there to support him through it.

When he first learned she had fallen into a magically induced coma, at first Matt wasn't overly concerned. He had remembered Jeremy telling him that when Bonnie did magic as a consequence it pushed back, straining her body. He figured in a day, two tops Bonnie would snap out of whatever she was in, and things would go back to the way they were.

However, as a week passed with no change in her condition, followed by another until a month went by and Bonnie remained unresponsive, he worried. Constantly.

Sure Matt went about life because he knew that's what Bonnie would want. But she had never been far from his thoughts. He'd either call Caroline or Elena asking for a progress report, and when he had a day off from work, he'd swing by the boardinghouse to spend an hour with her. Sometimes he'd talked to her, sometimes he'd read to her, sometimes he said nothing hoping that Bonnie would detect his presence.

Truly in the last two years he had spent his fair share at the hospital. And he did wonder why no one ever admitted Bonnie. Something neurological could have been occurring and they never would have known it. Matt reasonably knew he was no expert on members of the supernatural lifestyle and kept his suggestions to a minimum, but he couldn't escape feeling helpless and impotent. If he could give Bonnie half his soul, spirit, brain, heart, whatever it was she needed to come back to reality, he would have done it no questions asked. So for the first time in a long time he was in the same boat with everyone else because no one had the slightest clue on how to help her.

So to say he was overjoyed to be able to wrap his arms around her, feel her, talk to her and have Bonnie respond back, it felt like Christmas.

Bonnie wiped her tears. It felt good to have a happy cry instead of a painful one. "I'm so happy to see you, Mattie," she referred him to by a nickname she hadn't used in a very long time.

"Bon, you scared me half to death when you didn't wake up after the first week. Do you know what was going on with you?"

They were sitting on her bed. Bonnie had been in the middle of reading a magazine when the bedroom door burst open and a stunned Matt stepped inside.

She shook her head. "I can't really explain it," she said. "Alaric told me what happened because he was there with me and Jeremy. He said I begged the witches to bring Jeremy back and yet they refused. It would have disrupted the balance, so I asked Emily. She granted my favor, and after that, Ric said I just fainted and I never woke up."

Matt searched her eyes. He was well aware of the fact his friends sometimes omitted things because they thought they were being protective. However, he saw nothing but vulnerability marring Bonnie's face.

He nodded his head and rubbed her shoulders. "When Caroline called me and told me you finally woke up at first I thought she was playing a practical joke on me, but when she called me every foul name in the book, actually made up a few new cuss words too," he chortled, so did Bonnie, "I knew she was telling the truth. I wanted to come over yesterday, but…Dr. Fell she had to sedate you?"

Bonnie picked up the question in his tone. She merely nodded her head.

"Are…are you okay? Is there like, any damage?"

"I don't believe so. I remember everything that happened prior to that night."

Matt sighed in relief. "That's good. I was worried about that."

Bonnie felt her nose tingle as fresh tears gathered in her eyes. For so long she had to be strong for others that it left very little time for her to worry about herself. To hear Matt confess he was worried about her overall well-being warmed her heart.

She wiped her tears annoyingly. "I'm tired of crying."

He smirked. "I thought chicks loved to cry."

"You're generalizing."

Matt shrugged. "I think I'm allowed to in this case. So…what have you been doing all day?"

Bonnie looked around the bed and then the room before bringing her mint green eyes back to Matt. "This."

"Just laying here, reading?"

"You seem surprised."

"Well, yeah, you're not the type of person who just lays around being completely lazy."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment and say I've decided to turn over a new leaf."

Just outside the door, as the two friends reoriented themselves, Damon listened to their conversation.

"And that's to slack off?" he questioned with an ice-blond eyebrow raised in the air.

Bonnie smacked his arm playfully. "I've wanted to do more, trust me, but no one will let me. They say I should rest," she rolled her eyes.

"When has that ever stopped you from doing what you want to do. You've been locked in this room for four months. It's a beautiful day. You should be outside because I hate to tell you this, Bon…you're almost as white as me."

Bonnie laughed until her stomach hurt. "Shut up! I'm not that bad."

Matt climbed out of the bed, pulling Bonnie with him. "Come on. We can go lay out and soak up the sun."

"Okay," Bonnie winced as she moved her legs to swing them over the edge of the bed. Matt saw this and frowned a bit and then it occurred to him, she hadn't used certain muscles in the last four months.

"Oh, Bon, I'm sorry. I completely forgot…"

"What are you mumbling about? I can walk. It just takes an extraordinarily long time for me to do so."

Damon swung into the room which instantly made the twosome freeze. "What are you doing?" he was directing his question at Matt. "I said you could go up and talk to her, not try to stage a jail break."

Bonnie quirked her lips and then indicated to Matt to help her stand on her feet. He did so and wrapped a meaty arm around her waist.

"She wants to go outside, Damon. And she should. She's been in this room long enough."

"And not twenty-four hours ago she was burning with a 103 degree fever. Dr. Fell wants to restrict her contact with the outside world. Be lucky I let you in here because where you work its nothing but a cesspool of germs."

Two pairs of eyes blinked at Damon.

Matt ignored Damon and looked down at Bonnie. "You ready?"

"Yeah, could you grab that throw blanket, oh and my magazine. Thanks."

Damon tossed his hands in the air. "I'm sure I'm not the only person in this room who heard me talking."

"Damon…I feel fine. You and Stefan broke my fever." Bonnie felt Matt's eyes on her and she shook her head. "A little sun never killed anybody…well unless you're a vampire without a day walking ring," she smiled sweetly at him which he narrowed his ice-blue eyes at her. "Matt, we're wasting daylight."

Outside they positioned themselves on the lawn right under the path of direct sunlight. Lying side by side they read through the celebrity gossip magazine adding their own commentary on the poorly taken paparazzi pictures of famous people doing stupid things.

Bonnie flipped a page that was littered with prom dresses. There was an event which certainly hadn't crossed her mind.

"Prom," Matt said ominously. "I'm done with high school dances."

Bonnie quickly turned the page. "That makes two of us."

He angled his head so he could stare at her profile. "You want to skip your senior prom?"

Bonnie looked at Matt drolly. "You of all people should know our track record when it comes to organized dances."

"I do know, but that's never stopped you, Caroline, or Elena in the past from going."

"You're right, but the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. And I'm no glutton for punishment. Besides, we both know the _real _reason why you don't want to go. It's because you have no rhythm."

Matt snorted. "I can move," he tried to defend himself.

"Yeah," Bonnie agreed. "Move yourself right into a wheelchair after breaking something."

"I resent that."

"Matt, Steve Urkel has better moves than you."

He snickered. "Oh, that reminds me." Matt sat up and dug into his back pocket. He handed a small square shaped box over to Bonnie. "I got you something."

She blushed. "Matt, you didn't have to."

"Quit with the false modesty and open it."

She did as told and revealed that Matt had purchased a white gold anklet with a tiny star charm on it.

"Thank you. I love it," Bonnie flicked her eyes up at Matt and noticed that two red dots had formed on his cheeks.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "You know I just don't buy jewelry for anybody. So you must be _really _special to me."

Bonnie bit her lip and pulled Matt into a hug. "You're just as special to me."

Matt helped her put it on and the two of them lied back down on the blanket.

"We've talked about me long enough, Matt. What's been going on with you?"

He shrugged. His life was one cycle stuck on monotony. "I got accepted into Virginia Tech."

Bonnie's eyes brightened. "Congratulations!"

"Yeah," Matt was wistful. "Only…unless I get a football scholarship, because tuition is out the ass I'll be stuck taking out loans."

Bonnie frowned. She hated to see her friends struggle, even financially. "Something will come through for you."

"Certainly praying it will."

"Are you seeing anyone?" Bonnie opted to go for a subject change before things turned depressing.

"No. Dating is the last thing on my mind. And, girlfriends are expensive."

Bonnie chuckled. "I can't disagree with you on that."

Two voices caught Bonnie's attention. She leaned her head off the blanket and saw Caroline and Elena approaching them. "Hey guys," she greeted when they were close.

Matt rose to a sitting position to make room on the blanket for their company. Caroline and Elena stuck themselves on the little square of fabric.

"This is just like old times, isn't it?" Caroline beamed as her long blonde hair blew in the wind.

"Yeah, and I'm sure this is the part where the three of you exclude me from the conversation by talking about guys and their pecks," Matt checked the time on his cell. "I gotta run. Work," he explained. "Bon," kissed her cheek," damn it's so good to be able to do that and have you stare at me like I just said I wanted to become a porn star."

Matt got up from the blanket. "I'll see you ladies, later."

"Bye, Matt," the girls said in unison.

"Thanks for coming to see me," Bonnie added.

"I'll be back tomorrow," he promised and hustled off.

"You had a nice visit with Matt?" Elena asked.

"I did until Damon tried to put a stick pin through it."

Elena and Caroline narrowed their eyes. "What did he try to do?" Caroline wanted to know.

Bonnie shook her head. Inwardly she was pleased he showed some sign of territorialism over her and she wondered where it came from all of a sudden. Damon was a rebel, he made that more than pointedly clear so he see him assert authority and say Bonnie had to remain in doors due to doctor's orders threw her for a loop. More than likely he just wanted to give Matt a hard time and that was as deep as it went.

"Doesn't matter," she replied and noticed that a heavy bound book was resting on Caroline's lap. Bonnie pointed at it. "Is that the book you were telling me about?"

"Yeah," Caroline ran a thumb over the leather cover. "It has everything in here from newspaper clippings, personal statements, pictures."

"Is there a coloring section?" Bonnie teased.

Caroline rolled her eyes and handed the book over. "There's pop up sections, too."

"Awesome."

Elena snickered.

Bonnie opened the cover as her eyes glossed over the table of contents. Wow, they really put a lot of time and effort to organize everything they thought might be of interest to her. Caroline and Elena moved until they flanked Bonnie as they pointed out a few articles. The book had been organized by month, and during each month, every week detailed Klaus' movements, plots that failed, special events around town that ended in bloodshed, to personal achievements.

"You left nothing out," Bonnie was awestruck.

"We didn't want to take that chance," Elena murmured.

Bonnie read over one of Elena's entries. She had written it on February 21, 2012. _Everything finally came to a head. Inner feelings were exposed and put out on the table. I loved both Stefan and Damon, but we all agreed that being involved in each other's lives wasn't good for solidarity. So on this day, I walked away from both and haven't looked back._

Bonnie flicked her eyes up to Elena who wore a pensive expression on her face. "Is…is this true?"

Elena nodded her head and sighed. Her voice was raspy as she spoke. "It was a hard decision but it needed to be made. I realized that I had lost my identity being with them, and that I wasn't the only one who had. Almost everyone I loved lost a part of themselves in trying to keep me alive. When you fell into a coma it made that realization startling clear. And I don't want anyone to sacrifice anything for me."

"Elena…"

"No," Elena interrupted knowing what Bonnie was going to say. "Bonnie, you know it's true. Every decision someone made, they made because of me, not because of what they wanted for themselves. I can't have someone toss away their future to try to protect me for the rest of their lives. It just…it just wasn't fair. Stefan and Damon deserve to be brothers…true brothers, and I was getting in the way of that. So I let them go."

Bonnie was speechless. Elena had manned up, put on her big girl drawers and finally made a decision and had stuck with it in relation to the notorious love triangle. Bonnie reached over and hugged her friend. Now there really wasn't any impediment.

Hearing that news also forced Bonnie to make her own decision. She replayed Grams' words over in her head, that her one wish was for her to be happy. But it would have to be Bonnie's choice. If Elena could chose to emancipate herself from a toxic situation, Bonnie could emancipate herself from tightly held beliefs on who she was supposed to love and be with.

Elena was a little surprised by Bonnie's gesture yet returned it nonetheless.

"I'm so happy for you, Elena," Bonnie confessed and pulled away. "Are…are you happy?"

Elena smiled. "I am because my sister woke up."

"You guys are going to ruin my makeup," Caroline complained and caused the girls to break out into laughter.

"But everyone chipped in to create this book," Elena went on to say. "We all took turns sitting with you."

"Even Damon?" Bonnie asked, holding her breath for the answer.

Caroline shrugged. "We're not really sure."

Bonnie stared at her askance.

"Well," Elena stepped in, "if he did he didn't make a big production out of it. Stefan mostly sat with you throughout the night. Caroline and I would alternate during the afternoon and early evening. So…if he did…"

"It would have been right before dawn," Caroline speculated. "In any case you weren't left alone for long."

Bonnie wasn't really sure how to process that information but held out hope that Damon had showed he cared if she woke up or not in his own special way.

"Thank you, guys for not giving up hope on me."

Elena took Bonnie by the hand. "We couldn't. It wasn't an option. Besides, you would have done the same for us."

**Much, much later that night **the Salvatore boys were downstairs in the main living room reading. Both were perched in cushioned chairs when they picked up the sound of Bonnie's naked feet coming down the stairs.

Her skin was warm and glowing as she entered the room, the ear phones to her iPod jammed into her ears, armed with another magazine. She hummed along to the song that was blasting which with their impeccable hearing they were able to discern the artist. She was listening to a class R&B song "Rain" by SWV.

Damon watched her from the corner of his eye as he held up the novel in his hands a little higher to conceal his face. He ran his eyes over Bonnie. She was donned in a soft lavender rayon dress with quarter length sleeves. She walked over to one of the leather couches and extracted all the overstuffed accent pillows and tossed them near the fireplace. Damon quickly flicked his eyes at Stefan and noticed he had stopped reading his newspaper to gawk at Bonnie as well.

He cleared his throat and turned the page in his book. When he heard the rustle of Stefan doing the same with the newspaper, Damon brought his eyes back over to Bonnie who fell gracefully to her knees so she could lie on the carpet on her belly.

Damon sat up a bit straighter in his chair. Bonnie had braced most of her weight on a pillow to lessen the pressure on her elbows as she flipped through the glossy pages of the magazine. Her legs swung like a slow pendulum in the air. And the light from the fire cast an interesting shadow over the profile of her body.

To Damon's eyes she looked like a masterpiece of hills. His eyes traveled over her shoulders, to the curvature of her spine down to her ass which dipped into an inverted U shape, to those amazing legs of hers. His eyes narrowed a bit when he saw the anklet the Mutt kid had gotten her. As much as he wanted to disparage it, Damon couldn't because the gold was actually of high quality which he found surprising considering Matt only made a touch above minimum wage. Several of his bills might not have gotten paid because of it and even Damon had to admit he admired Mutt for making the sacrifice because he wanted to make someone else happy.

He'd never do that, though, but money had never been an issue for him either.

Bonnie suddenly flipped on her back and this afforded him the opportunity to admire her rack. She had a decent rack, Damon conceded. He wasn't the sort of man who preferred a certain body part over another; he liked the whole woman, but if he had to decide what body part drew his attention—other than necks—he'd say he was a breast man.

He found his thoughts slipping into fantasy mode. Damon wondered what Bonnie's naked breasts looked like, wondered how dark and how large her areolas were, wondered how the weight of them would feel in his hands.

Bonnie flipped again this time resting on her side. No matter the angle she looked like sin on a stick.

Damon looked back over at Stefan and saw that he wasn't reading again. "Interesting article, Stefan?"

"Just about as interesting as your book. Are you having trouble with a word, Damon? Remember I told you, you had to sound it out."

Damon chuckled.

Bonnie got up from the floor and padded her way to the kitchen. After her visit with Mutt and her girlfriends Bonnie had practiced on strengthening her motor skills. So she spent the rest of the afternoon and better part of the night using free weights to rebuild her muscle mass. Now she could move more easily than she had upon first waking out of her coma. She still got a little stiff from time to time but so long as she kept moving, she was fine.

That could account for why she couldn't find a comfortable position on the floor in front of the fireplace.

As she came out of the kitchen something skittered across the floor. Bonnie's eyes widened before she let out an ear shattering scream and jumped up on a chair.

Damon and Stefan instantly got to their feet thinking they were under attack.

"What's wrong?" Stefan turned up the volume to his ears.

"I saw a mouse!"

Damon and Stefan looked at her drolly.

The rodent in question shot out from under the couch to burrow its way under the carpet. Stefan lifted his foot and squashed it.

Bonnie made a face of disgust.

"You killed your dinner, Stefan."

"Shut up, Damon. Bonnie you might want to look away," Stefan advised as he peeled back the carpet to deal with the dead animal.

She did as told but hadn't made a single move to get off the chair.

"You can get off the chair now. That was the only one," Damon told her.

She snorted. "How do you know?"

"Because I don't hear anymore running around."

Bonnie wasn't convinced. "Just because _you _can't hear them doesn't mean there aren't more."

Damon tapped his ear. "Super hearing. I think I'd be able to pick up if this house is home to a legion of field mice, and its not."

Bonnie still looked uncertain but she placed one foot on the floor, followed by the other.

"What's that!" Damon yelled.

Bonnie shrieked and hopped back on the chair as he roared with laughter. She glowered at him. "Asshole."

"Scaredy cat. Get off my furniture."

Bonnie sucked her teeth and then kept her eyes glued to the floor. "Can you come get me?"

"What?"

"Come get me."

Damon sighed heavily and walked over to Bonnie and picked her up bridal style. "You're being such a girl right now. You have no problem facing certain death while taking on an original vampire, but you're terrified of a little mouse."

"They bite."

"So do I."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well at least you don't carry the bubonic plague."

Damon could do nothing but snicker as he carried Bonnie up to her room and safety deposited her on the bed.

"Do you need me to lay down some sticky paper or mouse traps?"

Bonnie glared at him because it was hard to miss the amusement dancing in his remarkable eyes. "Thanks for the lift. You can leave now."

Damon bowed gallantly and quickly vacated the room.

**Damon rolled on his back **when he heard the hinges to his door creaking to announce he had a visitor. He identified the intruder by scent and threw an arm over his eyes.

"Damon?"

"Yes, Bonnie?"

There was a pause. More than likely she figured he'd be asleep. But sleep was eluding him for some strange reason and he tried to tell himself it had nothing to do with the girl who just crept into his bedroom.

"You're awake?"

Damon didn't answer that question because that was more than obvious. "Did you need something?"

"I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see that mouse and no I'm not talking about Mickey."

He chuckled and then threw back the covers to his bed as an invitation. "Get in."

Bonnie only hesitated for a millisecond. "Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want you here."

Bonnie gasped because those words were so close to what he said to her in her dream-coma only he had been referring to them being a couple. Yet she recovered, closed the door behind her and crossed the room. She climbed up on his humongous bed and stuffed her legs under the covers.

In actuality Bonnie had wasted the last hour going back and forth in her mind if it would be a wise decision to go to Damon's room. She didn't want him to think she was there to seduce him or anything of that nature. It was true, what she said, that every time she tried to fall asleep an up close picture of a rodent with beady black eyes and whiskers kept popping up, and when she'd open her eyes her paranoia made her think her bed was crawling with thousands of mice.

Bonnie laid against the cool pillow and could barely make out Damon in the darkness of the room. "Damon…did you ever…never mind."

"What?"

She licked her lips and felt her heart begin to pound in her chest. It had gone without saying that it bothered her that Damon might not have sat with her _at all _the whole time she was in a coma. If his brother could take the time out of his schedule to do so, why would it be so hard for Damon to do the same?

But Damon had always been a man of action. He wasn't one for wasting time by being idle. He constantly needed stimulation whether it was by starting fights with original vampires, drinking, or picking up bar harpies. Made no difference to him. So Bonnie was finding it hard to reconcile what she knew of Damon's character to him playing vigil by her beside.

Plus, in this world they didn't share that type of relationship. A reluctant partnership had been forged between them with Elena being the only common thread they shared. Without it, Bonnie really had no idea how to quantify their relationship.

"Did you ever sit with me while I was in a coma?" she blurted at last.

Damon turned on his side so he could face her. He could see Bonnie's face perfectly as if the room was flooded with light. He could see the apprehension on her face.

"I did," he answered plainly. "Mostly early in the morning. I didn't make a big deal about it."

"Why didn't you?"

He thought of an adequate response before saying, "Because I didn't want to. I've seen lots of shit in my life but I've never…just watch someone lie in a bed completely unresponsive. It wasn't fun, and I'm sure it wasn't a picnic for you, and after a while I got pissed off."

This shocked her. "Why?"

"Because you weren't doing anything!" his voice slightly rose. "It was like you were giving up or something so…I may have resorted to threatening to turn you into a vampire to see if that might jump start some action—it didn't. When that failed…I might've…said some raunchy things."

Bonnie couldn't suppress it. She laughed. That could explain her dreams.

Bonnie chanced being forward. "Like what?"

Damon lost an eyebrow to his hairline. "You want details?" he smirked.

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't."

"Touché," he said. "This one time I described in detail what my tongue would do to your pussy if you opened your eyes."

A flash of excitement coursed through her body and ignited her feminine core. But that wouldn't have been the right response or the one Damon would expect from her, so Bonnie frowned at him—though it was hard because she actually wanted him to be a little more descriptive, but that's not what old Bonnie would say.

"You're disgusting," she spat and it sounded hollow to her ears.

"My mind is filthy—yes," he quickly agreed. "However, from the inception of that night…any time you heard my voice…you started to smile."

"Really?" she was flabbergasted.

"Yeah," Damon shrugged it off. "But I had read somewhere that when babies smile in their sleep it means they have gas so I chucked it up to that."

"Oh, my God," Bonnie moaned. "Did you touch me?"

He grimaced. "I'm not a molester, Bonnie."

"I didn't mean like that…but…"

"Oh, did I hold your hand and what not…no. I'm not the hand holding type."

"I figured this much."

"Why?" Damon asked suddenly. "Did you want me to hold your hand?"

She placed the right amount of incredulity into her voice, "No!" big ass lie though it was.

"I didn't think so, Judgey." Pause. "I know I haven't said this before, but I _am _glad you're awake."

"Me, too."

"Does this mean I can finally get that truce I've been trying to hammer out of you for the last year?"

She shrugged and then yawned. "We can start aggressive negotiations tomorrow."

Damon cocked a thick eyebrow in the air. "Hmm, I like the sound of that."

Bonnie flicked his chin with her index finger. "I knew you would." She rolled until her back faced him. "Good night, Damon."

"Night, Bonnie," Damon stared at her back for a moment before turning away from Bonnie. He closed his eyes and chuckled. Pillow talk with the witch—never would have imaged that would happen in this lifetime.

**Blue light of the coming** dawn poked though the curtains of his room. Damon had prided himself on being up before the sun rose and this morning was no exception other than the fact there was a warm body lying not three inches from him.

Damon had had hundreds of bedmates but it wasn't until now that the desire to immediately get rid of his conquest had abated. He stared at Bonnie, her head turned away from him as she was stretched spread eagle on his bed. Throughout the night he remembered feeling her leg or arm brush up against him. That would have been grounds for removal, but it felt oddly domestic having her near. Damon couldn't explain what was happening, if anything was happening at all, but something about Bonnie had changed because four months ago he could say with absolute certainty that his bed would have been the _last _bed Bonnie Bennett would ever willfully climb into.

Already her scent had permeated his sheets, so every time he moved or shifted, her aroma slithered up his nose. She smelled like crushed rose petals, honeydew, and confectioner sugar. All appealing scents added in with her body heat, girl was asking to get bit.

Damon got out of bed before he lost his head, gave into to his temptation and have to suffer the consequences because of his impulsivity.

He slid open his sliding closet doors and inspected his choices. Damon dropped his pajama pants—he did own a pair and wore them on occasion as he pulled out two different pairs of black jeans.

The door to his bedroom opened and Elena floated in. "Damon?" she saw him standing in his birthday suit, flushed, and looked away. "Sorry."

Damon grinned and turned to face Elena so she could get a full frontal look at him. "Morning." He held up the two pairs of jeans . "Why the visit?"

"Ah…" Elena blinked and avoided looking at him. "Have you seen Bonnie? She's…ah…not in her room."

"She's asleep," Damon answered vaguely. "Which one should I wear today?"

Elena's brows knitted together in confusion. "She's asleep? Where?"

Damon held a finger up to his lips. "Shush, not so loud. You might wake her."

Elena's eyes bulged as she realized her best friend was asleep in Damon Salvatore's bed. "She…"

"We were up _all_ night," he said salaciously, enjoying Elena's discomfort.

The long-haired girl blinked her eyes rapidly trying to get the information to compute and make sense. "You slept together?"

"Yeah," Damon was nonchalant and tickled. He tossed his choices on a nearby chair and then happily shuffled his way to the bathroom. "I'll let Bonnie know you're looking for her when she wakes up. You can show yourself out can't you?"

"Damon," Elena growled through clenched teeth. Yet her coming protestations were cut off by the hissing of his shower.

Elena didn't want to go over and inspect Bonnie's state of dress or lack thereof, so she turned on her heels and left the room.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, Bonnie's eyes fluttered open and she stretched and arched against the bed. For a second she felt slightly disoriented until memories of last night came flooding back in. She immediately looked to her right and saw the spot next to her was empty. She ran her hand over the sheets and noticed they were ice cold.

Just as she was about to call him, Damon walked stark naked out of his bathroom—whistling. Bonnie grabbed the sheets so she could use it to hide her grin.

"It's impolite to stare," Damon admonished her.

Bonnie noticed that his body glistened in certain spots, the moons of his ass in particular. Little drops of water fell from the ends of his midnight black hair.

"It's impolite to walk around completely naked when you have company," Bonnie fired back although she was really enjoying the show.

Damon picked up his jeans and held them up. "Which one should I wear today?"

Bonnie for her part never dropped her eyes below his neck. "The pair in your left hand."

He winked at her. "Excellent choice," he threw them on the bed. Damon resumed his whistling and headed back to the bathroom but he stopped and turned to face her. "You don't seem particularly outraged by my presumptuousness."

Bonnie shrugged. "My eyes have been closed for four months, so excuse me if there's something's I _want _to see."

Damon's grin was dangerous as he dropped his hands to his lean hips. Bonnie allowed herself to take a peek at his entire physique. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from moaning. A woman could cum just from staring at Damon's naked glory alone. He was ripped from his arms, pecks, abs, legs, to the turgid muscle in the apex of his thighs that was presently at half mast.

"Is that all you want to do? Watch?"

Bonnie slid out of bed and padded over to him. "You'll be the first to know if anything changes," she walked past him and headed over to the toilet.

_Okay, strange occurrence number two: Bonnie was flirting with him._

Bonnie was proud of herself that she hadn't turned into a puddle of sexual frustration and that she had remained unflappable though she wanted to climb Damon's body. She joined him at the sink to wash her hands.

"Elena is here and she's looking for you."

Bonnie nodded her head and dried her hands. Damon pulled out a spare toothbrush and handed it to Bonnie.

"Thanks," she mumbled and ripped open the package. Damon squirted toothpaste on his brush, did the same to Bonnie's and together they took care of their oral hygiene.

_This is so weird, _Bonnie thought, and jarring as well. From the looks of things, with Damon standing beside her in the nude, Bonnie still attired in her nightgown, you'd think they were a married couple. Bonnie rinsed out her mouth and then wondered what came next.

"You can use my shower. I can get you something to wear from your room," he offered.

Bonnie said nothing. Only watched as Damon picked up a towel, wrapped it around his waist covering up the best parts of himself before leaving the room.

Now that it was safe, Bonnie allowed her body to throb with need. If he caught a hint of her arousal she'd never be able to live it down. She quickly stripped and entered his shower.

By the time Damon came back he was now wearing a pair of pants. He stood in front of the mirror but his eyes wondered over to the shower. He could see Bonnie's shape through the frosted glass and swallowed thickly. He averted his eyes when the shower cut off and Bonnie stepped out wrapped up in a fluffy towel.

She strolled back into the bedroom and saw that Damon had selected a pair of dark denim skinny jeans, light pink panties with the matching bra, and…

"Damon."

"Yes?" he said innocently.

Bonnie held up the see through shirt that came with a camisole which he had forgotten to bring. "Where's the cami that goes with this?"

He looked lost and confused. "That comes with a cami?"

She pursed her lips.

He held up his hands and then went over to his closet. "Your choices are limited because the girls never dressed you in anything other than nightgowns. You can wear one of my shirts for the time being."

Bonnie flung the flimsy shirt back on the bed and joined Damon at his closet. All she saw was row after row of black. "You're blinding me with all these colors, Damon."

He snorted and grabbed a basic button down shirt. He held it up under Bonnie's chin. "This should fit."

She grabbed a hold of it and inspected it with displeasure—all for his sake. On the inside she was practically giddy. "Thanks," she deadpanned.

Bonnie very carefully placed his shirt on the bed next to her jeans, and noticed Damon merely stood and watched her.

"A little privacy."

"It's just me," Damon responded.

She slighted him with a threatening look to which he rolled his eyes and turned around. Bonnie dressed as quickly as she could. Damon used this reprieve to thrown on his shirt. He grabbed a pair of black socks from his bureau and his boots. He turned around without asking Bonnie if she were decent.

She had just zipped up her jeans but she stood before him in her bra. He got to admire her for half a second prior to Bonnie slipping into his shirt and buttoning it up. She rolled up the sleeves.

Damon had to admit she looked good in his clothes. "Ready?" he asked.

Bonnie nodded her head and together they went downstairs.

They found Stefan and Elena in the kitchen attempting to cook. Elena eyed Bonnie, noticed she was wearing one of Damon's shirts, and could do nothing but shake her head. Alternate reality—this had to be what this was, yet as she looked at them standing side by side even she had to admit they made a good looking couple.

"Morning," Elena said cheerily although she felt anything but. Bonnie was vulnerable and she had hoped Damon wouldn't try to capitalize on this, but of course he would.

"Morning," Bonnie replied. She had known Elena long enough to sense when something was wrong. She began to put the pieces together. Damon had told her that Elena came looking for her, and if Damon just happened to be prancing around his room naked at the time Elena showed up then she would have seen Bonnie in his bed and could only draw one conclusion from that. Bonnie's jaw became a little slack.

Of course Damon would make it appear as if they had had sex. Well, she couldn't get mad at him. Now that she knew where Elena and the Salvatore's stood…it meant Damon was free to claim, and that meant…Bonnie was going to fight to get to what they had in her dreams.

"Did you sleep well?" Elena asked.

"Like a baby," Bonnie replied. "I had good company."

Damon snickered and poured himself a cup of coffee. "And my door is always open, Bonnie whenever you need to be put to sleep," he winked at her and strolled out of the kitchen.

Chapter end.

**A/N: Now Bonnie has made her decision and will begin to implement a plan. But I loved writing her moment with Matt. I'll try to have Bonnie have a special moment/conversation with her friends while building her relationship with Damon. Hoped you guys liked it, especially Bamon. I couldn't resist having them have their first sleep over. Let me know what you think. Love you guys!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Well, I'm back sooner than usual. Because of the overwhelming response last chapter generated, I'm back with an update. And a heartfelt thanks goes out to each and every single one of you lovely beings! I changed this chapter not because it contained lemons, but I wanted to explore what Damon did while Bonnie had been in a coma. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: You know these aren't my characters (unfortunately). They belong to LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Bonnie made herself at** home on a kitchen island stool as she enjoyed the small breakfast Stefan and Elena had whipped up. She had observed the familiar way the old flames moved around one another, occasionally making a comment, but never actually looking at each other for longer than a second. For so long their lives had been so deeply entwined it was difficult for Bonnie to picture Stefan not being a major staple in her best friend's life.

Her eyes swung over to the door Damon had just walked out of. If he had never followed his brother back to Mystic Falls, half of the mayhem that ensued might never have taken place. Klaus probably still would have come back here eventually looking for the doppelganger to break his curse, but everything that happened prior to that—everyone in town would have been spared from.

Yet Bonnie wasn't sure she could place the sole blame on Damon's shoulders. He was a loose canon back then, doing what he felt like because he could. When she examined his resume and compared it to others—there hadn't been anyone powerful or strong enough around to lay a finger on him. Stefan had supplemented his diet with animal blood so that made him weaker than his demented brother.

Bonnie popped a grape in her mouth and squashed it between her teeth. She switched her thoughts because if she remembered the way Damon used to be, a complete and total murderous butthole she'd lose her tingly feelings of—admiration for him.

She still wasn't quite comfortable with saying she loved him.

Elena sat down across from Bonnie and began forking eggs into her mouth. The two friends eyed one another and Bonnie was just waiting for Elena to start hammering her with questions about her sleepover with Damon. As much as Elena might have fancied herself being over both Salvatore bros, Bonnie wasn't going to be naïve about the situation and say that Elena no longer loved them. It was evident by the fact she shared a special camaraderie with Stefan, yet Bonnie wasn't so sure what was shared , if anything, with Damon.

"I think I want to go home today," Bonnie announced to the occupants of the kitchen. Stefan stood on the far end of the island and sipped from a black coffee mug. His eyes squinted against the rising steam as he looked at her.

"You don't like us anymore, Bon?" he asked.

She snorted and popped another grape in her mouth. "No, I haven't seen my house in four months. And I don't want to overstay my visit," she added sheepishly.

Stefan carefully placed the mug on the tiled surface before resting his elbows on it. "I don't mind if you want to stay a little longer. It might actually be in your best interest."

Curious, Bonnie cocked her head. "Why?"

Elena chewed while she explained the situation to Bonnie. "Your dad temporarily moved to Paris."

The grape that was poised for Bonnie's mouth slipped from her fingertips and bounced against her plate. She stared at Elena before swinging her shocked gaze to Stefan who looked slightly apologetic.

"What? When did that happen? And why?"

Elena cleared her throat. "Sheriff Forbes found out that your dad was up for a promotion at work but he was hesitant to take it because he didn't want to pull you out of school during your senior year. So…" her eyes crossed over to Stefan briefly, "Caroline compelled him to take the job. We thought it would be in his best interest if he was over there while you were in a coma."

It was hard to swallow after hearing that news. Her dad was living across an entire ocean while he believed she was doing what exactly?

Stefan read the question marring her face. "He doesn't know about you being in a coma, obviously, but he thinks you're living with Caroline. The Sheriff has been covering for us on that end because she feels responsible for what happened to you."

Bonnie could understand that as she thought over the last night she was "awake". Jeremy had been enlisted in the search party for Damon after he broke out of the basement when Sheriff and friends came knocking to take him out. By accident Sheriff Forbes shot Jeremy in the center of his chest and then bada bing bada boom, Bonnie ends up in a coma for four months for bartering to bring him back.

"Sheriff Forbes has already talked to your dad, but he…ah…he wants to work out the remainder of his contract. He says he'll be back before graduation," Elena tried to soothe the sting of the news.

"But…if he hasn't talked to me…" Bonnie stumbled to find the right words.

"For all intents and purposes you've been communicating with him through text and email," Stefan told her.

Bonnie felt this news was kind of a double edged sword. She was happy her father didn't know about her condition and that her friends had went through an elaborate ruse to make sure he never found out, but…for him not to _demand _to hear her voice, to be satisfied with checking up on her through impersonal text messages and emails…it was hard for Bonnie not to feel as if the value of her relationship with her dad meant so little to him.

Elena lost her appetite since it was so apparent Bonnie was taking the news hard. She could understand. It would break her heart if her parents didn't do more to stay in touch with her, and hadn't asked to see her.

It was sad that Bonnie was used to getting the shaft from her father. No child should have to make excuses for why their parent just didn't care, yet she was tired of always being in this position.

Silently Bonnie rose from the kitchen stool and walked out to the living room. Elena attempted to follow her, but Stefan stopped her with the shake of his head.

Bonnie took a seat on the couch to process all she had learned when the front door to the boardinghouse opened.

"Hey, cuz," Lucy called, closing the door behind her and joining Bonnie on the couch. Her sage dark brown eyes took inventory of Bonnie and it wasn't hard to see something was bothering her. "What's up?" Lucy touched Bonnie gently on the shoulder.

The younger witch turned to her cousin and shook her head. "I just found out my dad has been living in Paris all this time and he never…" she couldn't finish the sentence.

Lucy nodded her head in understanding. She hadn't had a stellar relationship with her old man either. "I didn't agree with everyone wanting to keep Thomas out of the loop, but I was out voted."

Bonnie nodded her head. "It doesn't matter. I'm glad he didn't know about what was going on with me…yet…apparently he hasn't done much to try to keep in touch with me. He hadn't even asked to speak to me."

Lucy only met Thomas Bennett once and she hadn't been impressed with what she saw. He was a handsome enough man—his only saving grace Lucy believed—but he didn't show much outward concern for his only child. More than likely he was probably relieved he wouldn't have to deal with her on a daily basis for a while.

"Bonnie…does he know what you are?"

She shrugged. "Grams never made it a secret but my dad just thought she was crazy and it was all pretend. I couldn't talk to him about what I was going through and every time I tried…he shut me out. So I learned to keep my mouth shut."

Lucy grabbed Bonnie by the hand and tugged her off the couch. "You know what I say to people who don't want to give me the time of day although they should—screw you. I understand he's your father, but someone needs to remind him of that memo. You didn't ask to be here. That being said, we need to go brush up on your skills. See what you're working with."

Bonnie smiled patiently at her cousin. "I'm not…"

"In the mood?" Lucy guessed correctly. She rolled her eyes and propped a hand on her hip. "Doesn't matter because idiots are not going to concern themselves with whether or not you're in the mood to fight back. Get your shoes."

Bonnie snorted yet did as she was ordered. "Where are we going?" she asked the moment she came back in the living room where she spotted her cousin in a heavy conversation with Damon.

Lucy had made herself comfortable on the desk which sat caddy corner to the window as Damon stood too damn close to her. Lucy has smiling up at Damon while he peered down at her with heavy flirtation in his eyes. Bonnie pursed her lips and folded her arms tightly over her heaving bosom. She cleared her throat rudely.

Two heads turned in Bonnie's direction. Lucy instantly got up from her sitting position and walked around Damon.

"Ready?"

Bonnie curtly nodded her head and without another word spoken marched over the front door and threw it open.

It was a tense car ride, as Lucy drove Bonnie to Highland Park where they walked to the middle of nowhere so they could be totally alone.

The two of them worked on spells that Bonnie had perfected with little to no guidance, and then worked on some she never attempted to try. Overall her magic was strong if not a little rusty.

An hour had passed before Lucy suggested they take a break. Together they sat down in the middle of the field, enjoying the grandeur that surrounded them.

"Bon…can I ask you a personal question?"

Bonnie stared at her cousin askance. "Sure."

"Do you like Damon?"

Bonnie licked her lips and stared down at the blade of grass she had been playing with in her hands. She smiled briefly and then looked her cousin in her dark eyes.

"I do," she admitted and felt a wonderful sense of relief rise from the center of her chest.

Lucy didn't look surprised by the answer. "I know you were with Jeremy before your coma so…when exactly did that happen?"

Bonnie shifted on the grass so she could look at Lucy head on. "I want to tell you something…something I haven't told Elena or Caroline. And it might sound crazy—no it _is _crazy, but I need to say it."

Lucy indicated she was listening. Bonnie took a deep breath and told Lucy about her dreams, not exactly going into graphic detail about their content, but telling her enough to get the picture. Almost half an hour later, Bonnie stopped talking and searched her cousin's face waiting for the inevitable outrage.

"Wow," Lucy said in astonishment. "So this whole time you've dreamt of nothing except…making love to Damon, revealing your love affair to your friends, and actually having a relationship with him."

"All of that just developed within the last month, I think. Damon told me last night that he…said raunchy things to try to get me to wake up and cuss him out," she smiled ruefully. "That could certainly atone for the explicit dreams."

Lucy nodded. "I believe it," she smirked.

"But now I'm stuck with all these _feelings, _and everything is so one-sided."

"So, what are you going to do about it? Sheila told you that you had to make a choice, right? What have you decided?"

"I've rarely done anything for myself, Lucy. Every decision I've made within the last year and a half was to keep Elena alive and protect the town. And if I start pursuing Damon out of the blue…"

"Bonnie, I get that we don't know each other well, but from what you're friends have told me, you're one of the most selfless people they know. You can walk through life doing things for other people, but at some point you have to start making decisions and living for yourself. It sounds harsh…being selfish but something tells me you've never been selfish about anything."

"That's not true," Bonnie immediately contradicted. "It was selfish of me to bend the rules to help Elena and Jeremy cheat death."

Lucy slighted her with a look. "Again, you did so at an expense to yourself."

"Oh, right," Bonnie said.

"You were happy with Damon in your dreams, right?" Lucy asked. Bonnie nodded. "Are you afraid that if you tried to have something with him in the real world it won't measure up?"

"There's that, and the fact that he loved Elena almost obsessively. I can't compete with that."

"That's bullshit."

"What?" Bonnie's tone was a bit defensive.

Lucy held up her hands. "Damon shared some points of his history with me. Katherine—well I know firsthand what a picnic she was, and to a man like Damon at the time he met her, she was everything women weren't back then. Bold, daring, defiant. She was exciting. Then he meets Elena and she's the total opposite of Katherine—caring, kind, selfless, a bit boring."

A tiny snicker escaped Bonnie.

"Don't get me wrong, Elena is a great girl but a bit tame for someone like Damon. Whatever his reasons were for loving her are his reasons—I'm not knocking them. But don't sit here and say that you can't compete because honestly you're the shit, Bonnie."

Bonnie grinned almost shyly.

"Hear me out," Lucy went on. "You've challenged Damon, called him on his crap, stood up to him, defended your morals and ethics knowing it could cause you to get mocked by him. But that never stopped you from backing down from what you believed in even when you helped him grudgingly. I could tell out of everyone Damon knows, it's you he respects the most."

Bonnie never would have suspected Damon respected her in any capacity.

"And you want to know how I know that…because any time I suggested we do something about the whole Klaus thing, he'd say 'I don't think Bonnie would do that.'"

"He did?"

Lucy nodded. "With Elena he's all about control and flaunting his power and superiority, but with you…he wanted to have debates and conversations. I took that to mean, he looked at you as an equal and you are. Out of the human women he knows, you rank the highest because you're capable of killing him without the use of a stake. He'd be foolish not to respect you based on that fact alone.

"However, the other thing I've learned about Mr. Salvatore is he likes a challenge. With you it had been about finding a working compromise because you all had problems much bigger than yourselves to deal with. Once he accomplished that somewhat—the thrill was gone so to say. You're challenge is to make yourself into a challenge again."

Bonnie frowned. "How would I go about doing that? I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to get him naked and on his back."

"No it wouldn't," Lucy agreed. "Let's be real, Damon is a man-whore, that's common knowledge. But if you want something real with him…that's going to take work. And the best way to accomplish this is to make yourself as unavailable to him as possible."

Now Bonnie was just plum confused. "Hun?"

"Men want what they can't have. Damon couldn't be with Katherine because she was entangled with Stefan, the same goes with Elena. He placed her on a pedestal with no way of reaching her himself. With you…his interest would be piqued more if he sees you as something he can't have, and it will lead to something he can't live without."

"Lucy, I-I don't want to play games."

"No-no-no, I'm not saying act like a ditzy airhead and get yourself caught up in shit as a way to get his attention. But…make him chase you while you're in essence chasing him."

For the next hour Lucy gave Bonnie pointers on how she should act in different scenarios she might find herself in with Damon. Bonnie listened intently and wished she had some paper and a pen to take notes. Essentially she was being taught how to behave as a mature woman seeking out a mature relationship. Bonnie had always felt older than her friends—she had her bubbly and carefree moments until they became extinct—so she would have to dig deep within herself and pull out her inner seductress if she was seeking success.

Lucy smiled. "You're going to be fine, Bonnie. I have faith that no matter what you put your mind to, you achieve. If being with Damon is what you truly want, then let _nothing _get in your way. Not loyalty to friends and how they might feel about it because, trust, at the end of the day they're going to do what makes_ them_ happy. It's time you do the same."

Bonnie nodded her head and felt energized. She was ready to implement the first stages of her plan.

"You ready?" Lucy rose from the ground and brushed the dirt off the back of her jeans.

Bonnie rose to her feet as well. "I am."

**Bonnie had been blasting **Lana Del Rey since returning from playing Sabrina the Teenaged Witch with Lucy for the better part of the afternoon. Damon had been elbow deep in books trying to find something to occupy his time when he heard Bonnie return home and swiftly lock herself in her bedroom. He could never think of that room simply being a guestroom ever again. It was hers. Forever.

He thought back very briefly to the night he fully recovered from his near fatal werewolf bite compliments of Tyler the Dalmatian. Freshly showered and donned in a clean set of all black clothes, Damon had been in the process of buttoning up his shirt to go look for his brother, except Elena sat perched on his bed looking distraught. He had expected her to rush out the door the minute Katherine spilled the news that Stefan had bartered away his freedom in order for Klaus to cough up his blood to save Damon, but she didn't.

The first emotion to knife itself through Damon after hearing what Stefan had done, was anger so potent it was sweet. Soon his anger was replaced with urgency to catch up with Klaus and Stefan before they disappeared for good. However, seeing Elena sitting on the edge of his "death" bed, rocking slowly back and forth staring at the floor, his attention was thwarted.

He could still feel the innocent press of her lips against his. Damon never once convinced himself that her kiss was anything more than her way of saying goodbye, but he could pretend and lie to himself and say she did it because she had genuine feelings for him; that there was love in her heart which was meant only for him. That kiss had given him hope that it wasn't the right time to throw in the towel.

Damon had been poised to tell her everything would be fine. He would find Stefan and bring him home kicking and screaming if necessary. No one could ever accuse him of being a motivational speaker. That wasn't really his thing—being optimistic—always looking for the silver lining in a tower full of poop, but he wanted to be what Elena needed in that moment and that was a pillar of strength. Someone who took names and kicked ass.

However, the front door to his home burst open. Damon listened very carefully to see if he could identify who it was.

"DAMON!"

"It's Alaric," Damon spoke out loud.

Elena, startled, snapped out of her temporary paralysis and looked up at him confused. "What?"

Instead of answering Damon went downstairs to see what the hell Alaric wanted. Right when he was prepared to berate the man for his lack of manners, he saw Alaric laying a bleeding and unconscious Bonnie Bennett out on the couch.

"What the hell happened?" Damon asked, maintaining plenty of distance between himself and Bonnie.

The front of Alaric's shirt was bloodied and he looked frazzled and jittery. Damon could hear Bonnie's heartbeat and her steady breathing, but something twisted in his gut saying something was seriously wrong.

When Elena finally made her way downstairs she stared at Bonnie for a second before letting out a sharp gasp and rushing over to her friend's side, automatically pushing her hair out of the way to check for a pulse.

"Oh, God Bonnie!" Elena lamented and sobbed.

"I don't know," Alaric answered Damon's earlier question. He wasn't sure if it would be wise to spill the beans about Jeremy being shot, although he was fine and was now at the local hospital getting checked out. Nevertheless he knew withholding information had proven deadly in the past. He looked at Damon.

"You know Jeremy was shot through the chest tonight, right?"

Damon didn't miss the blatant accusation flaring from Alaric's blue eyes. That bullet had been meant for him but Damon conveniently zoomed out of the way. Wasn't his fault Jeremy had been standing behind him and that Liz decided to shoot first and ask questions later.

But he couldn't escape feeling responsible. Not that he would tell anyone.

Elena gasped again as tears washed her face. "What? Jeremy's been shot? Where? When? What happened? Is he at the hospital? Oh my God is he dead? Please tell me my brother's not dead?"

"No, Elena, he's not. Caroline tried to heal him with her blood but it was too late…he…died."

"But you just said-,"

Alaric held up a hand to silence her so he could finish his story. "Bonnie asked me to grab him and we went out to the old witch mansion. She begged the spirits and Emily to bring him back. Emily did but then, Bonnie passed out and she hasn't regained consciousness since."

Elena's fingers clutched at Bonnie. Her emotions were flying all over the place she was surprised she hadn't joined her friend and had remained lucid. Stefan was gone. Damon was alive. Jeremy _died_. Jeremy's alive. Bonnie's in limbo? Would this night of horror ever end?

She looked over her shoulder at Damon imploring him to do something, to fix it. "Please, help her, Damon."

"Giving her my blood isn't going to fix whatever's wrong with her. Maybe she just needs to rest. I think bringing someone back from the dead probably depleted her. Stay here with her. I need to go find Stefan."

Damon was gone in an instant. Playing nurse wasn't his forte either.

He didn't find Stefan that night, or any other night he searched. And then to everyone's dismay Bonnie never opened her eyes.

The seasons changed and still she slept.

Stefan had been found in the Blue Ridge Mountains and still she slept.

Elena and Caroline started their senior year and still Bonnie slept.

No one could explain Bonnie's condition. Dr. Meredith Fell came in and examined her, and basically said Bonnie exhibited all of the components of someone in a coma. She may snap out of it one day or she may not.

Arguments and debates broke out on what do if her condition persisted or worsened. Damon suggested turning her. He nearly got staked for that. Caroline had been worried about her physical appearance and the possibility of developing bed sores so she took it upon herself to see to Bonnie's hygiene and that she was moved into a different position on the bed each day.

Then everyone took it up a notch by reading to her, talking to her as if she might respond back, or merely sitting with her.

Damon will admit that he stayed as far away from the witch as possible. Not because he was scared. Damon wasn't afraid of shit. Well, maybe dying a painful horrible death but in his line of work it was kind of expected and sometimes unavoidable. He stayed away because he honestly believed that Bonnie wouldn't want him to be anywhere near her.

Then one day he found himself all alone with her at the boardinghouse. Typically someone was always stomping through the halls making an unnecessary ruckus, but that day it had been just the two of them.

Damon eyed her from the safety of the doorway. Counted the number of times he saw her chest rise and fall in a minute. Other than that telltale sign there was still life in her body, Bonnie mimicked a living corpse better than he ever could.

"Are you really going to lay there and do nothing all day, Judgey? This room needs dusting. Hop to it."

Nothing.

Damon shrugged and left.

Then he found himself coming back the next day saying something infuriatingly insulting at her and he was rewarded with nothing but cold, stark silence. That pattern continued until a month had passed.

Bored with his occupation, Damon decided to switch it up one day. He pulled up a chair, kicked his boots up on the bed, and picked his fingernails.

"You know, Judgey you're not _that _bad on the eyes. You have nice knockers. Can I see them one day?" Damon cocked his head to the side to see if that might have sparked something out of Bonnie. "Can I suck on your jumbo yummies?"

Bonnie didn't move a muscle.

Damon took his feet off the bed and then placed his elbows on his knees. "You and Jeremy spent an awful lot of time alone at the Munsters, and I would find it highly surprisingly that all the two of you did was flip through grimoires. But who am I kidding. Jeremy has the sexual finesse of a porcupine," Damon chortled.

"He wouldn't be able to appreciate a girl like you. All that passion and fire, you'd char his ass alive. I'm a much better choice, but then that's my humble opinion," Damon paused. "If and only on another planet you and I were to ever go there, I would undress you slowly. _Very _slowly revealing every inch of your skin while lowering you to my bed. I would strip you out of your bra, circle your areola with my tongue, not going for the part you really want my mouth on. My other hand wouldn't be idle. I would tweak your nipple until it was as rock hard as my dick. And then, I'd hook my fingers under the elastic band of your panties and pull them off achingly slow while blowing on your skin.

"I would make you play with yourself, plunge your own fingers inside of your pulsating pussy before making you lick them clean."

Damon cleared his throat. His own erotic fantasy was beginning to affect his body. He quickly flicked his eyes to Bonnie and noticed that her head had shifted a bit on the pillow and it appeared as if she were listening to him or was staring at him only her eyes were still closed.

He lost his eyebrows into his hairline as his lips curled into a naughty smirk. "Either you're trying to cuss me out or you like smut." Damon leaned closer to the bed, and brushed his fingers over her cheek, much in the same fashion he did the night she faked her death. "Well, my little bird, let's see if I can talk you to orgasm or consciousness."

Thinking of creative and explicit ways to talk to Bonnie had become his favorite pastime although nothing came of it. Sometimes Bonnie's lips might form into something that resembled a smile, but Damon couldn't be too sure. Bonnie hadn't done much smiling when they were forced to work together, but he was sure he might have seen her face brighten when she was with her friends or cuddled up with the sixteen year old child.

Sneaking into her room in the early morning hours had become his ritual. Damon was sure that the others figured he wasn't spending any amount of time with Bonnie, and if they had an issue with it, they never brought it to his attention. Besides, it had been pubic knowledge they really didn't get along, and barely tolerated the others presence only because there were so few outside of their circle they could trust. And it went without saying no one could boss Damon into doing something he didn't want to do.

The music finally shut off. If he listened to Lana drone on about her summertime sadness again, Damon was going to find her and put her out of her misery.

Leaving the library he spotted Bonnie standing in the foyer checking her makeup in a compact mirror. She was attired in a fire engine red one shouldered dress that stopped an inch above her knee. She paired the svelte number with nude patent leather pumps.

"Going somewhere?" he questioned as he leaned casually against the paneled wall and folded his arms over his chest.

Bonnie turned in her heels, long wavy hair flying. "Oh hey, yeah the girls are taking me out to dinner."

"And I wasn't invited? I should feel offended."

"Its girls only so don't think you were purposely excluded. You and Stefan will have the house to yourselves. I'm sure the two of you can play Pictionary. I heard you're good at it."

Damon stared down at his boots and cocked a smirk. The door opened and Damon smelled it was Elena before he lifted his eyes for visual confirmation.

"Hey!" Elena said and saw that Bonnie had chosen to wear red, as well.

Bonnie's smile faltered for a second and she tried with everything in her not to narrow her eyes. Elena was draped in red satin that paid homage to her perky boobs, flat stomach, long legs, and her little derrière.

"Hey," Bonnie's greeting was a touch shy of being arctic. The two girls embraced despite the awkward moment. "I see great minds think alike."

"That they do. You look stunning. Doesn't she, Damon?" Elena cast her eyes on the lurking vampire who certainly wasn't hiding the fact he had been staring at her ass since the moment she walked through the door.

Bonnie watched their interaction very carefully. There was still some residual chemistry between Damon and Elena which made Bonnie momentarily forget that the girl standing beside her was a person she considered her sister and not competition. Bonnie had never beat a girl with her stiletto before, but if Elena didn't take her eyes off Damon _now_, Bonnie might do so tonight.

Damon's azure eyes slipped away from Elena and landed on Bonnie. His eyes roamed over her body beginning with her sexy heels, up her sculpted legs, over her impressive hips, those twin hills, her slender neck, before settling on her face. A face that was contorted with some expression and emotion Damon could only name as annoyance. It didn't detract from her beauty in anyway.

He winked at her. "She is a looker. But then again, she always has been." Damon pushed away from the wall and pivoted in his boots. "You ladies have fun," he tossed over his shoulder.

Well, that hadn't been the reaction Bonnie had hoped for, but it did her heart some good to hear Damon say she was a looker at least in his eyes. That was a step in the right direction, right? At least he didn't compare her to a dog walking backwards.

"We should get going," Elena suggested and pulled Bonnie very gently by the arm.

"See you later, Damon!" Bonnie needlessly shouted. Old habit. Vampire hearing. Kept forgetting.

"Ciao, bella!"

**Dinner with the girls **had been exactly what Bonnie needed. She needed to decompress and feel like the girl she was before Grams told her she was psychic and a witch, before vampires populated her hometown, before she fell into a Sleeping Beauty coma. It only mildly surprised Bonnie of the camaraderie that was shared between her cousin and two best friends, but she was glad that their personalities had meshed. Bonnie tried not to feel excluded or like an outsider when conversations shifted to something she hadn't been a witness to.

And the night didn't end with dinner. The girls checked out a new nightclub that catered to a younger clientele which opened it doors in the city over from Mystic Falls. Bonnie had danced but not too much or too hard. Didn't want to mess up her hair, sweat off her makeup, or ruin her dress with unsightly sweat stains.

She waved good bye before opening the door to the boardinghouse. Bonnie was sure the vampire siblings would either be engaged in a heated game of chess or reading. They were so old school that it jarred Bonnie at how "normal" Stefan and Damon could be sometimes.

Bonnie thought back to her first time stepping foot inside of the boardinghouse. It had been a month or so after Grams died and she wasn't sure what to expect. Would she find coffins? A ritual altar? Severed animal heads decorating the walls?

Instead what she got was a heavily decorated mansion with lots of 19th century furniture and art. There was a definite masculine and old world theme, which sparked her curiosity, but Bonnie hadn't arrived to take an official tour. She did, however, tried not to stare at anything too ostensibly. The last thing she wanted Damon and Stefan to think was that she was impressed with their house. Arguably it was too big for someone of her stature, but now this place had come to feel more like home than her actual house.

The crackling of a fire greeted her ears as she walked through the short foyer and entered the living room where she came to a sudden stop.

Bonnie's jaw hit the floor. Damon was home all right and he wasn't alone. For all intents and purposes he was dry humping some blonde up against the wall. His mouth was busy kissing the bitch's neck, as his right hand groped her boob.

Earrings were about to come off and Bonnie was fully prepared to break out a jar of Vaseline.

Heat, anger, and something unidentifiable exploded within Bonnie causing the fire in the hearth to flame out. That caught the girl's attention causing her to scream as she tried to push Damon off of her.

Slowly it registered to Damon that they were no longer alone, and that Bonnie was present. He pulled away from the blonde and stared at Bonnie a little confused by her shocked and outraged expression.

"You're back," he said with a lopsided grin.

The blonde huffed before she slapped him. "You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend."

Damon grabbed a hold of his jaw and worked it back and forth. It actually stung, but all it did was ignite his irritation. "One) don't hit me. Two) I don't. And three) she's just my housemate."

"Yeah right," the girl argued and then fixed her clothes, ran her fingers through her matted hair. She, of course, threw nasty and snide looks at Bonnie.

Damon grabbed the girl by her chin and smiled charmingly at her. "Go wait for me in my room. I promise you won't want to miss out."

The girl immediately became compliant.

Bonnie watched in stunned silence yet stepped out of the way or ran the risk of being barreled down by the eager blonde who practically took the stairs two at time to Damon's room.

Damon sighed heavily and shuffled his way over to the curio cabinet to withdraw his favorite brand of whiskey. He figured Bonnie was pissed because he showed bad manners in attempting to get his freak on in the middle of the living room instead of taking his private party up to his bedroom. There were plenty of rooms in the manor to fuck in and he was determined to christen every single one.

"What?" he asked because he could feel her eyes burning a hole in the back of his head.

"Nothing," Bonnie blurted and reminded herself that she and Damon weren't friends in reality; that they shared no type of intimate relationship and he was well within in his right to have meaningless sex with whatever slut he picked up at a bar or off the street.

Did that mean she wanted to stumble upon him? Hell to the naw. Did it mean she wanted to be privy to the fact Damon could have sex with her living under the same roof as him? Again, hell to the naw.

Her throat was inexorably tight, making it almost impossible to swallow.

After pouring his drink, Damon turned back around to face her. He noticed Bonnie hadn't moved from her spot and looked poised for an explanation for his behavior.

"Come on, Judgey. I know you have _something _to say in catching me with my hand literally down some chick's pants."

Bonnie held up a hand. "It's none of my business. Do what you want. I'm going to bed." She took two steps, stopped, and came back to her starting position. "However, I thought after all this time your tastes in women might have improved. But I see I was wrong. I thought you would have realized you should be with someone who's on your level. Someone who can take your surly attitude with a grain of salt and doesn't burst into tears if you so much as raise your voice at her. Someone who will challenge you, meet you half way, but above all of that, put _you_ first. Instead I see you still like taking the easy route of falling for the chick that will bend over a table simply because you blinked at her. Good night, Damon."

The vampire in question watched her walk away and snorted. Damon was fully poised to throw his shot of whiskey back, but he paused and thought over Bonnie's speech. Shaking his head, he chose to ignore her words and decided he was going to have some fun tonight.

Up in her room, Bonnie rushed around, opening various drawers as she hastily stuffed clothes into the largest bag she could find. She might have liked Damon _a lot _and definitely more than she should, but that didn't mean she was going to stick around for his bedroom antics. She had her pride and dignity after all.

Satisfied with what she had packed, but severely dissatisfied with the turn of the night, Bonnie lugged her bag downstairs, taking care not to listen too hard for any activity coming from the room down the hallway.

Throwing open the front door, Bonnie remembered her car wasn't here. Crap!

Nevertheless a smile did blossom on her face as Damon's car sat parked as if in invitation. She didn't want to waste time trying to locate his keys, although a simple spell would have taken care of that. Bonnie merely focused her energy and made his car start.

She slid behind the wheel, ran her hands over the steering wheel and inhaled the air. It smelled of nothing but Damon. Shifting the car in reverse, Bonnie backed out of the driveway and burned rubber down the road.

Bonnie checked the rearview mirror expecting to find a butt naked vampire chasing after her, but there was nothing.

A little disappointed, she focused her eyes back on the road and then slammed on the brakes as she screamed.

Standing in the middle of the road was none other than Damon Salvatore.

Bonnie was a sitting duck as Damon walked in fluid motion towards his carjacked vehicle. He pulled open the driver side door, reached for Bonnie's hand, and tugged her out and onto the street.

"Just where do you think you're going in my car, Bonnie?"

Even under the cover of night, his eyes were so blue it hurt to look at him. Bonnie gulped nervously. "I was going to Caroline's."

"Why?"

"Because…" she sputtered. He was standing so close to her that she could feel the faint brush of his shirt against her stomach.

"Because?" Damon asked and passed his eyes over Bonnie, listening to her heart speed.

"Because," Bonnie tried once more to think of a convincing lie without giving too much of her inner turmoil away of the thought of him being with another woman and what it did to her. "I wanted to give you privacy."

The way she worded her explanation sounded more like a question than a statement.

Damon shook his head. "That's not necessary. She's gone."

Bonnie blinked after hearing this. "She is?"

"Yep, called her a taxi and she left."

How much time had I spent packing, Bonnie wondered if Damon had time to call the girl a cab while said cab arrived? Hopefully that wasn't vampire humor or code about him sending the girl off to meet the ferry man to the underworld.

"So get your ass in the passenger seat and let's go home," his smile was tight and what she had gotten used to.

Bonnie folded her arms under her breasts. "You can say that a lot nicer, Damon."

Inwardly he grinned. Damon cleared his throat. "Bonnie, get your ba dunka dunk in the car."

She smiled and shook her head. "I guess that's better."

And Bonnie made a show of making sure he got an eyeful of her ba dunka dunk as she swayed her hips to the other side of the car.

_Nice ass, _Damon thought. It was certainly a lot better than the chick he was bumpin' and grindin' on. Sliding behind the wheel, Damon turned his car around and drove back to the boardinghouse.

Bonnie certainly knew how to turn the tables on him and make him adjust his way of thinking and his attitude, Damon internally mumbled. Her little speech not only ruined his chances of getting laid, but it also made him realize she had been absolutely right. He deserved someone on his level, who could handle his prickly attitude, and most importantly would put him first.

Damon stared at her askance wondering why did he _always _find himself secretly taking the advice of a seventeen year old witch?

Chapter end.

**A/N: I know last chapter was very sweet, and I'm glad you guys enjoyed it A LOT. In all the Bamon stories and scenes I've written Chapter 8 of this story is my all-time favorite. But naturally, no matter what transpires between Bonnie and Damon, he will be Damon, and since he is unaware of her attraction to him, Damon will do what comes naturally to him. Bonnie has kind of wedged her foot in the door, so we'll see if this changes anything. Nevertheless, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, too. Until next time…love you!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: So sorry my loves for the long wait for an update. I can't remember if I mentioned this in my prior author's notes, but I've decided to re-do the whole subplot of the story because I didn't like where the previous one was headed. I might keep some aspects but I want this to be a simple, lemony goodness story for you to sink your teeth into. Bad analogy, I know. Here is the latest! Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

"You're late, Bonnie."

The girl in question froze with her hand incriminatingly still on the door knob as she attempted to shut it quietly and not draw attention to the fact that—yes—she was late for class. Again. Biting her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood, Bonnie lowered her eyes to her feet, unable to meet that intimidating blue-eyed gaze of her teacher.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Salvatore."

"What's your excuse this time? Couldn't decide on which flavored lip gloss to wear?"

Snickers resounded from her classmates and Bonnie wanted to scowl at each and every single individual, marking them as traitors. Instead, she squeezed her books tighter to her chest, almost cutting off her own air supply.

"No, Mr. Salvatore."

"Have a seat and then see me after class."

Again, her classmates—Judas' they all were 'oohed' at her expense as Bonnie wove her way through the aisle to reach her assigned seat. Her cheeks were burning, tears threatened to fall from her eyes from her brief stint with humiliation. Mr. Salvatore had it out for her. Bonnie didn't care what anyone had to say. She wasn't paranoid as her friends often suggested. Bonnie couldn't do anything right in his eyes. If she made a high score on a test or quiz it was because she cheated, guessed right, or had help from one of her male counterparts. Her success as a student was never based on her own merit, her own intelligence. She hardly ever talked back, and was an active participant in the class discussions covering their reading material. And anytime she made a point and backed it with facts from the book, Mr. Salvatore would glower at her sure she had downloaded something from the Internet.

She had no idea why he was liberal with his animosity towards her, nor so open with it. Other students had done much more horrendous and acrimonious acts against him, but Mr. Salvatore barely lifted a finger to discipline those lucky bastards. Nope, he saved all of his spite just for her.

Keeping her eyes focused on the front of the class, Bonnie tried to jump into the lecture Mr. Salvatore was delivering as he showed slides.

Unfortunately ignoring him would be next to impossible considering the projection had been set up right beside her desk. She felt the heat of his gaze barreling down on her, weighing her down, and Bonnie was powerless to tell him to direct his gaze elsewhere. He was the educator, the leader of the classroom, and she was but a lowly student.

Relaxing in her seat was next to impossible. She was just too aware of him. From the sound of his voice booming over the classroom, to the scent of his cologne that tickled her nose anytime he shifted on his feet, Bonnie had no idea what he was talking about because all of her attention was focused solely on him.

Mr. Salvatore cleared his throat and then asked one of the students sitting next to the light switch to turn on the lights. Bonnie winced against the sudden brightness of the room, and noticed that a few of her classmates stretched their arms and legs. Some actually scrubbed the sleep out of their eyes, groaning that their cat nap had been interrupted.

Mr. Salvatore made his way back to the front of the class and sat down on the edge of the desk. Seeing him in the light, Bonnie noticed that the sleeves to his sky blue button down had been rolled up exposing his forearms. The shirt complimented his eyes and black trousers. His obsidian hair was tousled and had that fresh-out-of-bed appearance. Not many men his age would be able to pull something like that off and not look sloppy and unkempt in the process, but Mr. Salvatore did it masterfully.

Several girls considered themselves head over heels in love with him, and never passed up the opportunity to make goo-goo eyes at the hard ass teacher. Bonnie wouldn't waste her time fantasizing about the man who was making it his career to intimidate and harass her for the slightest offense.

Twisting her fingers nervously on top of her desk, Bonnie was just waiting for him to pick her out of the crowd and start throwing questions at her as if he were throwing knives.

"Miss Bennett what did you think of Kennedy's handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis?"

Licking her lips, Bonnie sat up straighter in her seat, well aware that all eyes were glued on her. She was on the proverbial hot seat, under the spotlight. No one knew this but she was in her element.

She opened her mouth to respond to his question with a thought out response, but was silenced as the bell rung.

Hearing the shrill noise startled Bonnie and she jerked and frowned, not exactly sure what it symbolized although she knew perfectly well it meant class was over.

Her classmates gleefully collected their things and booked for the exit. Mr. Salvatore didn't move from his perch on the edge of the desk, nor did his eyes travel away from her face. Once the last student left, he took that as his cue to rise from his seated position, walk over to the door, and shut it.

Bonnie swallowed thickly and tracked Mr. Salvatore's movements with her olive green eyes. He walked over to the other end of the classroom and pressed the button that shut the blinds automatically.

In the semi-dimness of the room, Mr. Salvatore walked down the aisle where she was seated and then turned the desk in front of hers sideways. He sat down.

Sitting up impossibly straighter, Bonnie dropped her hands to her lap and felt her cheeks warming. She had never been this close to Mr. Salvatore as he typically avoided coming into close personal contact with anyone.

He was much brawnier than she had previously given him credit for. His shirt was practically hugging his frame and Bonnie found herself unable to look away from his shoulders, nor the column of his neck. Her eyes traveled upward and she saw a five o'clock shadow emerging around his jaw. It only made his kissable lips stand out like blood on white carpet. When she was brave enough, Bonnie looked into his silver-blue eyes and was transfixed by the way his pupils dilated.

She dragged her tongue across her bottom lip and breathed through her mouth.

"What are we going to do about your constant tardiness? I've given you more allowances than I should have. By this point you should be serving in in-school suspension."

Bonnie's eyes enlarged. She couldn't have an in-school suspension on her record. She was trying to get into Harvard!

"Mr. Salvatore, I'm sorry! I'll do better. I swear, I will."

"Explain to me how you're capable of getting to all your other classes on time, but when it comes to mine, its like you're deliberately trying to disregard my authority as an educator? I've spoken with your other teachers and though they all speak highly of you, I'm afraid I can't reciprocate."

Bonnie shook her head. "Why do you hate me?"

Bonnie noticed that Mr. Salvatore's dark eyebrows mashed together in confusion. "Where did you get the idea that I hate you? Now I'm the bad guy because you don't have the common decency to show up on time for my class?" Mr. Salvatore laid his hand on his chest as if her question deeply offended him.

Later, Bonnie would blame her next move on desperation not to be punished. Her hand shot out and landed on his forearm. When she noticed she was touching his skin, not his shirt, but his actual skin and felt the fine hairs on his arm tickling the palm of her hand, Bonnie's first inclination was to draw her hand away as if it had been burned. Instead, she kept her hold on him knowing how this might look if someone were to burst into the room right that second.

Thankfully, Mr. Salvatore didn't drop his eyes to get confirmation that she was indeed touching him.

"All of my other classes are nearby. I'm coming from the science building which you know is on the south end of the campus. I try my best to get here on time, but my legs…they're short."

Bonnie's cheeks were probably going to pop off her face. That's how hard she was blushing. After she said her spiel she realized how ridiculous it sounded.

Waiting to hear his biting and sarcastic words, Bonnie was surprised when she heard the deep rumble of male laughter.

"That's one I've never heard before," Mr. Salvatore said and then sobered. "Not good enough, I'm afraid." He pinned her with his eyes.

Bonnie couldn't move.

Mr. Salvatore slid to the edge of the seat. "You need to be punished, Bonnie for your insubordination."

She gulped again—nervously. Something was telling her she wouldn't be banging erasers clean after school or writing a phrase over and over again a hundred times on the black board.

"How are you going to punish me?" Bonnie asked shakily.

A warm hand that didn't belong to her landed on her thigh. Bonnie's eyes dropped to her lap, more to the matter the pale white hand that was slowly making its way up her pleated skirt.

"I think we can come to an agreeable compromise," Mr. Salvatore said as his hands brushed against her panty line. His other hand took the same route on her left thigh. "Lift your hips."

Bonnie's eyes flew to the door. "We shouldn't. Not here."

"I'm in charge and you'll do as I say. You made two mistakes today, Bonnie. First showing up to my class late and then wearing this skirt knowing what it does to me." Pause. "What color are your panties?"

The corner of Bonnie's lip found its way trapped between her pearly white teeth once again, as heat flushed through her. The expression on her face was wanton. "Why don't you guess? You usually get it right."

A devilish grin broadened on Mr. Salvatore's face. Something dangerous glinted in his silver-blue eyes. "Purple."

Bonnie refused to answer. Simply lifted her hips as he instructed earlier.

Mr. Salvatore worked her panties down and then smiled in victory. He had gotten the color right. Bonnie watched in fascination as he ran her lacy undergarment between his fingers, then brought it up to sniff, and finally licked the seat of her panties before stuffing them in his pocket.

"Get on the desk," he ordered.

Clamoring out of her seat, Bonnie walked to the front of the classroom and then climbed up on the teacher's desk on all fours. She waited for her next set of instructions although she knew what was going to come next.

Mr. Salvatore walked up behind her, admiring the view. He palmed her ass with just the right amount of pressure that made Bonnie hiss in pleasure and in pain.

"Face on the desk, arch your back, and spread your legs."

Bonnie did so.

"Play with yourself. I want you wet."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Salvatore."

He was behind her, mounting her, and breathed on in her ear. "Call me Damon."

Cyan eyes flew open. Damon bolted to a sitting position in bed and looked around to make sure he was in fact in his bedroom. His naked torso moved up and down rapidly and then as the fog and confusion cleared from his mind, he noticed the tent stemming from the middle of his body.

He was hard as a brick.

Stabbing a hand through his black hair and pushing it away from his face, Damon wasn't against having erotic dreams, he enjoyed them very much like any other hot—well in his case cold-blooded virile male. But the dream didn't have its usual guest star in the form of Elena, Katherine, or any other conquest from his disturbingly long past. His wet dream had been about Bonnie.

Damon could brush it off as the fact she was now alive and kicking and they spent the night together the other day, sleeping side by side and staying up until the wee hours of the morning talking. In fact that's what he should do and put the whole weird episode behind him, but…

That dream felt _too _real. No, he never saw himself as a teacher. He detested children and responsibility. Sure it would have put him into contact with hot eighteen year olds, but he didn't need the ruse of teaching for that. Look at him! He was a certifiable stud muffin. Damon accepted hook-up applications everyday of the week. But his hands actually burned with the phantom caress of her sun-kissed skin. And when he moved his tongue around in his mouth, Damon was almost positive he tasted her arousal.

Slamming his head on his goose feather pillows, his hand slipped under the covers and he cupped his meat. Perhaps he should rub this one out since Bonnie cock blocked like a mug last night. Besides he owed himself this one pardon and Bonnie definitely owed him an apology for making him behave like a gentleman.

Closing his eyes, he thought of kissing a pair of erect nipples the size of gum drops and sinking his fingers into a hot, tight, pink…

"Damon?"

"Fuck! Can you knock?!" Damon barked.

"Sorry," Stefan muttered and then frowned once he noticed what his brother had been in the process of doing. "Sorry to interrupt your special getting to know yourself time, but the sheriff is downstairs."

Sighing heavily, Damon threw the covers off. Since Stefan wanted to be imprudent and just enter his bedroom without knocking—something he had done a billion times over, but whatever—then there would be no point in him having shame in his game. He rose from the bed stark naked and still fully erect.

Stefan dropped his eyes and shook his head. "I'm sure it's written in Leviticus not to stand naked in front of members of your family."

"Ain't in the mood for scripture, Stefan. You got the same parts I got so that cancels out everything else. Tell Liz I'll be with her in a minute."

**Bonnie was in the kitchen **nibbling on a slice of wheat toast and reading a magazine when the door to the kitchen flew open. Her eyes snapped to the intruder and she relaxed although not by much when she noticed it was Damon.

He looked irritated, which was putting it mildly. Wiping her hands of any crumbs, she stared at him as he seemingly ignored her presence. Damon opened the refrigerator and withdrew a blood bag, grabbed a coffee mug and poured the contents inside and then finally placed the mug in the microwave and nuked his breakfast.

"Good morning," Bonnie said hoping to catch his attention.

"Morning," Damon mumbled and kept his gaze locked on the microwave.

"Is everything okay?"

No, Damon wanted to answer. Everything was not okay. He was horny. Hadn't been laid in…in…shit _too _long. On top of that he hadn't killed anyone in months, nor drank blood straight from the source. He was beginning to feel as if he had entered a rehab program against his will and knowledge. And to top it all off, the girl he just had an erotic dream about was trying to make conversation with him.

As soon as the microwave went off, Damon quickly retrieved the mug and slurped. The blood burned his tongue and the roof of his mouth, but he didn't care. It was a distracting sensation.

"I need to…I don't know. Do something," he finally said more than one word. "Is Lucy still in town? I could really get drunk tonight."

Bonnie frowned at his back so severely she was thankful her face hadn't caved in. "You don't need to go out with Lucy to get drunk."

Damon pivoted in his boots and finally took notice of Bonnie. She wasn't wearing a pleated skirt and a tight Polo shirt that was for sure.

He snorted before speaking. "What? Are you offering to be my drinking companion? Correct me if I'm wrong but you get drunk just from drinking a wine cooler."

Folding her arms over her chest, Bonnie was tempted to tap her foot on the floor. "I take offense to that. Sure I might not toss 'em back like I'm a Russian spy, but I can hold my own. Just name the time and the place and I'll be there."

Damon didn't look convinced. If he challenged Bonnie to a drinking competition he knew she'd lose within the first five minutes. Being a vampire meant he couldn't realistically get more than a nice buzz going, but stumbling over his feet, puking every two seconds, blacking out drunk just wasn't achievable.

Besides would it be worth getting a lecture from the Scooby-Doo gang? He could hear their whiny voices in his head now: she just got out of a coma, Bonnie's delicate, she's fragile, you're being irresponsible, Damon.

Yet wasn't that his entire M.O? Being irresponsible and living life to his own drummer? Damon certainly thought so. He approached the opposite side of the kitchen island and leaned his elbows on top.

"Be ready to head out no later than seven."

On the inside Bonnie was squealing like a Robert Pattinson fangirl. On the outside, she was nothing but cool nonchalance.

"All right. See you in the foyer at seven."

**This wasn't a date. **Bonnie repeatedly told herself that as she stared at her meager wardrobe in her room at the boardinghouse. Nothing here was adequate enough for a night out with Damon. Frowning, the logical step would be was to go shopping, but that wasn't appealing either. Bonnie hadn't exactly been reintroduced back into society. It was good timing on her part that she awoke from her coma during spring break. She would be starting school on Monday, so this would be the perfect cap to her weekend.

Bonnie scrunched her nose. Damon had already seen her in all of these outfits. She needed to do something to grab his attention like a streaker running across a football field during the Superbowl. Although he had taken partial notice of her in the red dress she wore to dinner, Bonnie had almost been totally usurped by Elena who showed up in a sexy little number in the same color. She certainly couldn't afford a repeat of that.

Finally something came to mind. Bonnie had an outfit that still had the price tag on it, but unfortunately said outfit was buried in the dark corners of her closet. At her house. She couldn't explain why she hadn't gone home yet. Perhaps the reason for it was that her house had stopped feeling like her home a long time ago. In any case, she needed to go there if not just to make sure the place was still standing.

However, there was the matter of how to get there.

So she strode up to the third floor and tapped on Stefan's door.

"Come in."

Bonnie pushed the door open and saw Stefan at his writing table, scribbling away in his journal. He paused and looked up at her.

"Hey, Bon. Need something?"

"Yeah. Can I borrow your car? I need to run to my house real quick."

"Sure," Stefan replied, picked up his keys off the desk, and tossed them to Bonnie. "Be careful with her. She's my baby."

"I'll be safe. Thanks."

Slipping out of the house and into Stefan's classic and fully restored Porsche, Bonnie cranked the engine and made her way to her humble abode.

The outside was still the same. Her house was a simple one story American colonial. She didn't have her set of keys on her but a spare was kept under a garden gnome with rosy cheeks. Retrieving the key and unlocking the door, Bonnie cautiously entered her house.

The air inside was stuffy the product of being unoccupied for four months. Bonnie immediately began opening the windows to allow the cool spring air from outside to clear out the dry stuffiness inside. Everything was surprisingly clean, a little dusty, but nothing was out of place. Walking to the back of the house, Bonnie pushed open the door to her room.

She smiled and thought back to the days she sat on her bed, lotus style as she munched on popcorn and watched television until her eyes felt like they were going to rot out of her head. Her room was where she displayed her personality the most. Bonnie for as long as she could remember always felt like she was playing a part. With her friends she was their counselor, motivational speaker, their defender and protector. With her dad, she tried to be the perfect daughter, the daughter he was proud of and wanted to spend time with. But she always kind of fell sort of the mark, according to her own perspective.

Yet Bonnie could scarcely remember what she wanted for herself.

Maybe just to be free.

And as she thought of this freedom only one face came to mind. With that nice reminder, Bonnie strolled to her closet, sighed in memory once again, because this had been another haven to her, and began to search.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but someone was knocking on the front door. There was a pile of clothes thrown haphazardly on her bed that she had every intention on taking back to the boardinghouse with her. The only person who knew she was here was Stefan. If Caroline or Elena stopped by the boardinghouse thinking she was there, Stefan probably told them she could be found at home.

Placing the two shirts in her hands on the bed, Bonnie walked through the house and then stared out the peephole.

It wasn't her friends but a man.

Opening the door slightly, Bonnie poked her head through the tiny opening. "Yes?"

"Good afternoon, I'm looking for a Miss Bonnie Bennett."

Bonnie didn't confirm or deny she was the person in question. Instead she searched her brain for a memory of having met the guy before. He vaguely reminded of her someone yet she couldn't put her finger on whom. But what she did do was store away his attributes for later retrieval. He was about Stefan's height and build, except where Stefan had caramel hair, the guy's hair was mahogany and the color matched his eyes. And let's not forget the accent; it was British.

"Why?" Bonnie asked.

"I merely wanted to extend an invitation for her to dine with my family. My mother actually."

The next thing Bonnie knew, a card was being thrust towards her. Her name was written in elegant script in black ink across an ecru envelope.

"Can you make sure that she gets this?"

Bonnie accepted the card and nodded her head. Then as discreetly as she could, she closed the door. Bonnie quickly slid over to the window that was adjacent to the door and peeked through the blinds. She watched as the stranger walked down the pathway. He stopped as if sensing her eyes were on him and looked back towards the house over his shoulder. Bonnie ducked out of the way and when she felt the coast was clear, returned to gaze out the window. This time when she did, the guy was gone, no trace of him anywhere.

Her eyes dropped to the card and she made quick work of opening it. "You are here by cordially invited to dine with Esther Mikaelson…"

Several questions floated through Bonnie's mind. The first being who in the hell was Esther Mikaelson and the second being why was she being invited to dine with her? It went without saying this wasn't something Founder's related and last Bonnie checked, she hadn't signed up for any kind of pageant.

This was all very strange and was really deviating from her main purpose in being here. She needed an outfit that would guarantee Damon's eyes would be on her all night.

Swiftly going back to her room, Bonnie searched the racks until she came across the black number that would definitely get a rise out of someone tonight.

**When she walked back **into the boardinghouse Bruno Mars was blasting. "It Will Rain," Bonnie said aloud and wondered which of the Salvatore boys was going through a slight emo phase. The music abruptly shut off and the next thing she heard were feet pounding on the staircase. It was Damon.

Bonnie tried to keep the smile from forming on her face.

"Change in plans, Judgey. I have counsel business to deal with, which sucks. Looks like we won't be able to get drunk tonight as planned."

Bonnie was disheartened to hear the news but then she tried to switch back into business mode. Although she was inwardly stomping her foot on the floor and pulling at her hair and screaming to high heaven, on the outside, she had on her serious face.

"What's going on? Is it something I can help with?"

Damon bypassed her and headed to the library. He shook his head. "No, Ric and I have everything covered. I guess you can say we're going on our first official stakeout."

Although he said it with a straight face, Bonnie could hear the excitement in his voice. He was like every other little boy. Giddy at the prospect of playing cops and robbers.

Damon flitted from one part of the library to next pulling out stakes, knives, and every other weapon he had stashed somewhere.

"Oh, well…some guy showed up at my house and he handed me this invitation to dine with some lady named Esther Mikaelson."

"What?" Damon's head snapped up like a viper and he flashed over to Bonnie. "What guy? You didn't invite him inside did you?"

Bonnie would have to be deaf not to hear the alarm in Damon's voice. She shook her head. "No, of course not. Was he vampire?"

"Depends," he answered, "what did he look like?"

Bonnie thought for a moment. "He had dark hair; dark brown eyes in fact now that I think about it he kind of reminded me of Elijah."

Damon was thankful that he didn't turn color like humans did because Bonnie would have seen him blanch. "You met Elijah's younger brother Kol." Unhappy memories began to bombard Damon. The last time he saw Kol he was bashing his legs in with a baseball bat.

"Do you have the invitation?" Damon asked and held out his hand.

Bonnie dug around in her purse and pulled it out. She handed it over to Damon who wasted no time opening the flap of the envelope and pulled out the invitation. He read over the words and read them over again.

He brought his eyes to Bonnie's face which stared back at him with expectancy. He held up the card. "Burn this. The Mikaelsons are a dysfunctional breed and whatever Esther wants, won't sway in your favor, trust me."

"How do you know?"

"I'm sure Elena and Caroline wrote it down in that book, the chronicle."

"I haven't read the entire thing yet."

Damon passed the card back to Bonnie. "Then I guess that's your activity for the night. But avoid Kol as much as you can. He's Joker crazy and coming from me you know he's bad news."

Just as he was making his way back to collect the stash of weapons, Bonnie decided to throw out. "I'm not sure. He was pretty hot."

Damon came to sudden stop and looked at Bonnie to ascertain if she were joking. Her face looked reflective as if she were entertaining certain thoughts a girl like her should never ever have for a guy like Kol. Damon didn't know much and didn't care to know much about Kol, and if what he was reading on Bonnie's face was correct her interest did look piqued.

He stood before her again, this time clasping her shoulders. The physical contact had him spiraling back to his dream, and he was in that classroom taking off her panties and making her mount a desk as he made his move to mount her.

Clearing his throat and abolishing those thoughts, Damon grabbed Bonnie gently by the bottom of her chin and tilted her head so that their eyes could meet.

It wasn't until now that he noticed her eyes were more hazel than green, especially around her pupils. Her nostrils twitched slightly as her bottom lip dropped and he could make out a row of teeth.

"Whatever you're thinking, don't," and it wasn't a suggestion. "He's related to Klaus which should be reason enough for a straight ace like you to stay light years away from Kol or any Mikaelson for that matter. They can't be killed and I'm not in the mood to have my organs rearranged in trying to save you because you got curious."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Just because I've been decommissioned for the last four months doesn't mean I'm completely defenseless or helpless. Damsel and distress aren't apart of my vocabulary, Damon. But thanks for the concern."

They held gazes for a second.

"Just promise you'll keep away from Elijah Jr."

Bonnie chortled. "Promise. But if he happens to approach me while I'm out and about…well I have no control over that."

And to further mess with his mind, Bonnie graced Damon with a Mona Lisa smile that either erased the promised she just made or fortified it. Damon didn't know which and it made an uneasy feeling flow through him like acid. Yet what did it matter to him? If Bonnie wanted to get entangled with one fucked up branch of the Mikaelson family tree who was he to stop her? She wasn't his girlfriend, his sweetie, hell they were barely friends. She could do what she wanted.

That, above everything, bugged him.

Bonnie stepped away from Damon and turned to leave the room. "Have fun with Ric tonight."

**Going on a stakeout **was more fun in theory than in practical application. His ass was getting numb and Damon desperately wanted to stretch his legs, but he couldn't. He was waiting for his mark to emerge from the apartment building he had been holed up in for the last three hours.

His mind should have been focused on that but it was preoccupied with earlier tonight and the warning he tried to deliver to Bonnie about staying away from Kol.

"He's on the move," Ric said interrupting his musings.

Damon sat up straighter in the driver's seat, his eyes going across the street. A hooded figure moved quickly down the block before slipping into a late model SUV. Cranking the engine of his own car, Damon started to tail their suspect.

Someone had been in the business of stealing and selling vampire blood. Ordinarily this wouldn't have made a blip with Damon but the fact of the matter was, vampire blood was being used to cure everything from diseases to minor cuts and bruises and the sheriff and mayor was of course worried about a resurgence of a possible vampire repopulation of the area. It was an ingenious plan when Damon thought about it. Only if people were that clumsy that they suffered a fatal accident just a few hours of being pumped with vamp blood, and then somehow completed the transition, would the sheriff and mayor have to worry about an outbreak occurring.

And no matter how many times Damon said vampire blood passed out of the human system in twenty-four hours they just wanted the culprit apprehended.

Alaric kept careful watch of their surroundings and noticed that they were being led to the next town over called Holy Cross—note the irony. Damon parked his car outside of a non-descript bar that had seen better days. The man climbed out of his SUV, walked to the far side of the parking lot and then slipped into a black on black Mercedes Benz. Damon increased the volume in his ears and tried to listen to the conversation taking place, but he could hear nothing.

He knew what that meant. The blood drainer was working with a witch.

"Well this just keeps getting better and better," he mumbled sardonically.

"What?" Alaric asked and reached for his bag of goodies.

"It would seem the supplier is working with a witch. I can't hear anything."

Grim with the news, Alaric pressed his lips together. "How do you want to handle this?"

"We kill him and the witch, I'm sure another one will pop up eventually. The sheriff and mayor are waiting to see results so I say let's get them some results. You take the left, I go right, and we're all home on time to watch _Hart of Dixie._"

Alaric chuckled and then opened the door. "You're a dick."

"I'm the best dick there is," Damon agreed and climbed out of the car.

**There were some days** that Bonnie really hated being short. Not that she was treated as a child or mistaken for one when out and about, but the height deficiency always put her at a disadvantage especially when she needed to reshelf something in her closet or if there was a plate or dish she couldn't reach in the cabinets at her house.

That would be her current problem, trying to put a shoebox on the top shelf in her closet. She was standing on her toes and extending her arms as far as they could go, and had just barely managed to slip the box where she wanted it to go when she lost her footing and tumbled to the ground. The back of her leg caught on something sharp, probably the corner of the door, and she landed on her hip.

Embarrassment colored her cheeks as she pushed herself up and wiped the dust from the palms of her hands. Grimacing at her dirty hands, Bonnie entered the bathroom to wash them and when she stepped out a figure was propped up against the door frame with his massive arms crossed over a broad chest.

"Did you hurt yourself, Judgey?"

Olive green eyes rolled at the use of that detestable nickname. "You're back," Bonnie said in lieu of answering the question. She hobbled her way over to the bed and wondered why she was feeling something sharp and prickly pinching the back of her thigh. She ignored it for now just chucking it up to the fact she landed awkwardly against the closet door.

Damon took a few cursory sniffs of the air and noticed immediately the telltale scent of blood. He quickly entered the room and approached Bonnie who went rigid as he came near.

"You're bleeding," he stated matter-of-fact.

Bonnie watched as his eyes cascaded down her body looking for the source of her injury. She flushed slightly although there was nothing sexual about the way in which he was staring at her. It almost reminded her of that time she accosted him at the Lockwood's directly following Caroline's accident and the subsequent death of Richard Lockwood. She had had a point to make but Damon being Damon acted boastfully as if he did the world a grand favor by saving Caroline. After the hell he put her through it was the least he could have done. Bonnie had gone after him guns blazing and with a message that if he stepped out of line just one time, she would take him out.

It seemed she had to make good on her promise the very next week as she lit his ass on fire since Caroline turned, went batshit crazy, and killed someone as a result of not being able to control herself. Bonnie only felt partially guilty for going after Damon once she stopped listening to her emotions. It wasn't his fault that Katherine killed Caroline. And Bonnie felt doubly bad because she had been the one to order Damon to heal her even though Elena had objected.

Consider it a mixed blessing. Caroline may have succumbed to her injuries, or through another miraculous act she may have survived but with severe brain damage, irrevocably changing her forever. She wouldn't have been the friend Bonnie had grown up with. If Bonnie had to pick the lesser of the two evils, she'd go with vampire every single time.

Bonnie dropped her eyes to her body. She didn't see any blood, but as she twisted the leg that was throbbing there it was, a line of blood flowing like a river.

"What happened?" Damon questioned and moved until he stood behind Bonnie.

"I was trying to put a shoebox on the top shelf in the closet, lost my balance, and I fell. I scraped my leg against the door."

Falling to rest on one knee, Damon got a closer view of her injury. "You have a pretty nasty splinter jabbed in your thigh. I can get it out."

Swallowing thickly and feeling the blood rushing to her head, Bonnie simply nodded. She stood completely still and waited for Damon to pluck the miniature stake out of her skin. Now that she knew it was there it seemed the sting increased ten-fold.

"Brace your hands on the bed," Damon instructed.

Bonnie's eyebrows mashed together. "Come again?"

Damon stared up at her and motioned with his head towards the bed. "It's in there at an odd angle. I'll be able to get to it better if you were bent over the bed."

That wasn't exactly true, but Damon had no intentions of passing up the opportunity to get Bonnie on all fours, in his own way. And if she were to do so, he could look up her nightgown, not that he would but the option to do so was there.

Huffing, Bonnie did as instructed and braced the palms of her hand on the bed.

"Don't move," he retorted succinctly. He quickly darted into the bathroom and wet a washcloth with warm water and came back out, discreetly admiring Bonnie in this slightly submissive position. He fell to his haunches and then pressed his thumb against the injection point of the splinter.

Bonnie hissed through her teeth as white-hot pain licked up her spine like a whip against skin.

Applying just a tad bit more pressure, Damon squeezed the splinter between his right thumb and index finger and pulled it out.

A spurt of blood escaped from the tear in her skin and he watched as it flowed following the stream that had already been created. He licked his lips and felt the back of his throat grow hot like coals. Saliva coagulated in his mouth and his fangs were itching for a release. He cleared his throat and then ran the warm and wet cloth up her leg starting from her ankle.

Holding her breath as she adjusted to the softness of the cloth against her skin in contrast to the pain the splinter caused, Bonnie trapped her bottom lip between her teeth. She wanted so desperately for him to replace the cloth with his tongue and clean her like a cat. Just the image alone made her clit harden. Bonnie stared down and noticed that Damon's full concentration was on cleaning her wound.

He held his left thumb over the injection site hoping to clot the blood and to stop its flow. After holding it there for a few seconds, he lifted his hand away, and ignored the blood coated on his digit.

"You can sit down," he said, voice graveled.

Bonnie carefully sat down and her eyes immediately went to the blood on his thumb. Just as Damon made a move to wipe it off, Bonnie stilled his hand and then, pressed his thumb between his lips.

"Consider that my way of saying thank you."

Damon didn't lick the blood although his insides were screaming and demanding he do so. Instead he was too busy staring at Bonnie like she morphed into Sasquatch.

"Lick it," Bonnie prompted as she noticed his hesitation and then blushed after realizing the double entendre.

Damon graced her with that notorious lopsided grin of his as something glinted in his eyes. He puckered his lips around his thumb and swept his tongue back and forth across the pad of it, keeping his eyes on Bonnie.

When his finger was clean, Damon slid his tongue over his lips lapping up any drop that might have escaped. He moaned deeply. "You're the best I've ever tasted."

Bonnie's face was so hot she was surprised steam wasn't rising from her skin. But she remembered the advice Lucy had given her and attempted to look as disinterested as possible.

"And you're not the first to say that."

Dark eyebrows rose. And Damon appeared to be analyzing her with new and shrewd eyes. Bonnie attempted not to wiggle under his scrutiny. What could she say? She sucked at flirting big time. Usually if she saw a guy she liked or thought was cute she'd become incoherent and smile almost maniacally. She had to bring her A-game whatever that was if she meant to snare Damon.

Gulping nervously, she rose from the bed, ready to climb under the sheets and go to sleep. Damon got to his feet as well, gazing down at the witch.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked somewhat suggestively.

Bonnie shook her head despite the varying images that paraded around in her mind. "I'm good, but if anything should change, I'll be sure to call you or Stefan or whoever else is around."

Damon frowned slightly at the mention of his brother's name, but he didn't say anything.

Side stepping him, Bonnie pulled the covers back. "I'm surprised you're back early. I thought you'd be out all night, schlep off to the Grill and get plastered."

Damon didn't want to think about what a total failure tonight was. The prick he and Alaric had been tracking managed to escape as well as the witch. But like Scarlet O'Hara said, tomorrow is another day.

"That was my intent but I guess I wasn't as interested in getting drunk tonight as I originally thought. And besides, if I had gone with that game plan, I would have missed the opportunity to drink you like a tick."

"Ah, Damon you always say such romantic things," Bonnie batted her eyelashes. Yawning for effect, Bonnie climbed into bed. She looked at Damon who stood looking uncertain for a minute. "Do you want to watch a movie?"

"With you?"

"No, your shadow, of course with me. Unless you're tir-"

And in the next second a body bounced on her bed and reached for the remote. Damon turned on the tube.

"Since I got a little freaky with your leg, I guess the least I can do is watch some boring, old movie with you."

"Your generosity knows no bounds. It's okay if you want to admit you like spending time with me."

"What man wouldn't enjoy spending time in bed with a beautiful woman?"

_Don't blush Bonnie, _she admonished herself and was proud of the fact she didn't. Instead she turned to Damon as he flipped through the channels trying to find something appropriate to watch. When he couldn't find anything he turned to Movies on Demand.

"Before we pick something I could really use some popcorn and Caroline dropped off some brownies earlier today. Would you be a sweetheart and get them for me?"

Damon looked at Bonnie askance. "Do I look like a maid?"

"You look like a disgruntled school teacher but that's between me and you."

Damon nearly catapulted off the bed at the mention of the word teacher. He stared at Bonnie almost accusatory but her gaze was focused on the television and her face looked…well she looked how she always looked—pensive. Perhaps her comment was just a coincidence to which he shook off and then climbed out of bed.

"You pick something and I'll be back with your order. I'm guessing you want something to drink, too?"

Bonnie smiled at him sweetly. "If it's not too much trouble."

He snorted and quickly vacated the room. With him gone Bonnie allowed a smile to overtake her face. It would seem her dream implantation spell worked. She felt a little guilty for doing it, but she needed all the help she could get to speed this process along.

Chapter end.

**A/N: I know, slightly manipulative of Bonnie, but hey sometimes scruples get left by the wayside when you're passionate about something you want. Doesn't mean she'll be pulling out all the dirty tricks in the book. Nope, nope, nope. I'd like Kol to be apart of this story, but I don't know how active he'll really be since we know next to nothing about his character so I'd be constructing him from scratch. Ah, well we'll see how this goes. In any case, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Thanks for your patience with me. Until next time, love you!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: My apologies for the long wait for an update. I thought my rewrite would go a lot smoother than this, but hey you learn something's just aren't easy. I hope you guys like this. Please excuse any typos or missed words. Will clean it up later.  
**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Something shifted in** bed next to him. Damon's eyes sprang open and he arched his head backwards to peer over his shoulder. There was a definite lump beside him buried under the covers that moved occasionally. As he looked around he realized that he had fallen asleep in Bonnie's room. Clearing his throat, Damon came to a seated position in bed and then tentatively pulled the covers off Bonnie's head.

Her face was turned towards him and her lips were actually curved in a smile. He wasn't sure if she were sleeping or if that's how her face naturally appeared in the morning. One strap of her camisole had fallen off her small shoulders and revealed more of her boob to his greedy eyes. An instant war broke out as the gentleman in him wanted to pull her strap back up, but the horn dog in him wanted to pull it down just a little bit further to see some nipple action.

Damon shook his head. Having one erotic dream about this girl shouldn't make him consider taking liberties with her he otherwise wouldn't have. Yet why wouldn't he?

It certainly wasn't because he had turned over any new leaves in his life that was for sure. He sat and admired Bonnie for a second before rolling out of bed and leaving her room.

After taking a shower and dressing, he took the stairs one at a time to the living room but the rarely used doorbell rung, causing Damon to make a detour. He threw the door open and then grimaced at the person standing on his porch.

"Good day, chap," Kol Mikaelson beamed and then strolled inside the premises as if he had been granted an invitation.

Whatever possibly good mood Damon had been in was quickly dissolved into irritation. The Mikaelson's didn't know this, or maybe they did, but Damon had one white oak stake left that was well hidden. Hidden in a place that kept vampires out yet everyone else had a free pass to enter. And he wasn't above being petty, compelling some hapless human to get it, and plunging it in Kol's undead heart. Besides he owed him for what Kol did to his legs in Denver.

Damon folded his arms over his chest and rocked on his heels. "What do you want, errand boy? That's what you are now, right?"

Kol sniffed the air, caught a very familiar scent and then smiled. "You're not alone, Salvatore. You might want to try to remember that before deciding to use your tongue for something other than shining my boots."

Kol grinned in satisfaction while Damon sneered venomously at the Original. Damon wasn't sure how strong Bonnie's powers were considering she had taken an involuntary sabbatical, but he was sure they wouldn't have made much of a difference against Kol considering nothing other than white oak could kill or seriously injure him.

"Just spit out whatever it is you came over here to tell me."

Kol looked around the sprawling living room with disinterested eyes as he rubbed his hands together. He honestly couldn't see what all the hoopla was about concerning these dreadful Salvatore's. Rebekah wouldn't shut up about Damon's cunnling technique, which he never asked for details on by the way, and Klaus wouldn't stop brooding over the fact he was without a ripper.

"I came to ascertain how your little investigation involving the blood thief is coming along?"

Damon snorted derisively. "Why do you care?"

"Actually I don't, but my brother, the wanker, he does. But of course he's too lazy to do anything about it himself. Hence I'm here to volunteer my services should they be needed, because you and I both know there's nothing else to do in this God-forsaken town." Kol soon grew distracted by the lovely brown skinned girl coming down the stairs, tightening her robe about her waist.

"On second thought it may appear I spoke too soon."

Bonnie came to a stop when she noticed the vampire who showed up at her house yesterday was standing in the living room. Next she became consciously aware of the fact she was dressed in a robe that stopped several inches above her knees and nothing else. She flashed worried orbs over to Damon who motioned with his head for her to get closer to him.

"Sorry, was I interrupting something?" Bonnie asked as she made her way over to Damon yet her progress was stopped when Kol instantly stood before her. Bonnie gulped heavily as she peered up into his dark brown eyes and got lost in a face that reminded her so much of Elijah's.

Damon for his part tried to discreetly get closer to Bonnie to snatch her out of the way should Kol try to manhandle her to get him to comply with his demand to become apart of the Dalaric Hunting Squad.

"No, you weren't love," and then Kol proceeded to pick up Bonnie's hand and kissed it. "I don't believe we've been formerly introduced although we did meet unofficially yesterday. I'm Kol. Kol Mikaelson," he waited patiently for Bonnie to divulge her name.

Damon intervened. "She's not important."

Bonnie glared at him whereas Kol could only lift a corner of his mouth into a skeptical smile.

He turned to face Damon, "If that were so why are you looking so nervous, mate?"

Damon rolled his eyes and ordered himself to take a more nonchalant stance. "Your business is with me. Just let the girl go about hers."

"Are you a sharing man, Damon? I imagine you are considering the girl you love was diddling with your brother."

"Okay," Bonnie laughed nervously needing to diffuse this situation before the two immortals came to blows. It certainly didn't take a genius to figure out that's where things were heading. "I'm going to take my unimportant ass into the kitchen. Can you two play nicely while I'm gone?"

Hmm, Kol thought. She certainly spoke with an authoritative edge and she wasn't exactly acting skittish towards him which told Kol everything he needed to know. This was indeed the witch his mother wanted to dine with. Kol could feel her power vibrating underneath her skin as he finally came to the realization he was still holding her hand.

Bonnie realized that as well and snatched her hand away. She walked around Kol, flipped Damon off, and got lost in the kitchen.

Well, Kol stood corrected. There _was_ something he envied Damon for. Yet he found his curiosity being piqued for another reason. Judging by Bonnie's state of undress and the fact she had no qualms about parading as such with Damon around, Kol wondered if they were fucking. You had to be a fool not to know that Damon's cock had one name branded on it, though he apparently loved sharing it with others. This was a new development Kol was sure he could use to his advantage.

The two men faced one another, sizing the other up. "Don't think because you have a witch around that it automatically guarantees protection," Kol looked towards the door Bonnie disappeared behind. "She's a beautiful specimen and I would be delighted to eat her one night," he grinned salaciously and wondered how long it would take Damon to pick up on the innuendo.

Not long.

A sudden wave of possessiveness overtook Damon and he cleared the space that separated him from Kol.

"If you go _anywhere _near-,"

Kol yawned and interrupted. "If this is the part where you threaten to kill me in some meaningless albeit entertaining way, you can save your breath. You and I both know that without a dagger or a white oak stake that you can't kill me. And yes, in case you were wondering, I do still have my Louisville Slugger."

Kol winked and then smacked Damon on the cheek before pivoting in his boots and whistling as he headed towards the door.

"Oh, believe me when I say I'm a resourceful vampire, creative too," Damon boasted.

Kol paused before throwing the door open. He flashed another confident smile towards Damon.

"Give my regards to Bonnie, will you, Damon. I anticipate I will be seeing her very soon."

Kol vanished.

With him gone, Damon released the breath he had been unaware he had been holding. Just as he turned to head towards the kitchen, his front door was opening again.

"What the fuck do you want now?!"

Lucy stared at him affronted as she closed the door after her entry. Her face clearly dripped with disapproval at being cursed out so early in the morning.

Damon tried to appear sheepish. "Sorry, that comment wasn't meant for you."

"Then who was it meant for, potty mouth?"

"No one important."

Bonnie came out of the kitchen at the tail end of that sentence. She huffed while carrying a smoothie in her head. "That seems to be your favorite phrase today."

Damon tracked her movement with his eyes getting momentarily lost with the sway of her hips, "You know I only said that because I didn't want him sniffing after you. I only half meant it," he leered.

Bonnie stared at him unimpressed before giving Lucy her full attention. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

Lucy pointed up towards the ceiling. "You and I need to have a talk. Girl talk," she emphasized when she noticed that Damon made a move to follow. The two cousins got missing.

Bonnie closed the door to her bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed as she looked at Lucy. "What's going on?"

"I was hoping to have some more time before I had to hit the road again, but there's some trouble up north I have to look into."

"You're leaving?" Bonnie questioned and was immediately bothered by that fact. It was nice having Lucy around not only because she was a witch but because she was family. Bonnie had so many unanswered questions she was hoping to pick Lucy's brain one day. But her cousin apparently was like the wind. Here one minute and gone the next but somehow still always around.

Lucy nodded her head. "How are things going on your end?"

Bonnie shook her head.

"Well it's only been a few days give it time."

"Yeah," Bonnie muttered absently. "So do you know how long you'll be gone or when you might be back?"

Lucy sat down next to Bonnie. "I'm not sure. I didn't anticipate I'd be here for this long so there's no telling. I know the last time we saw each other I said that I was going to stop letting vampires use me, and I guess I have to some extent. I can already tell something foul is about to jump off here, cuz, I just wish I knew what. But I know you'll be okay."

Inwardly, Bonnie moaned. She was tired of being the supernatural fixer. She just wanted a moment of normalcy. She wanted to make her dreams into a reality, but if some new fuckery was in the process of cooking, Bonnie already had a feeling she'd be in the thick of things.

"Well," Lucy said interrupting Bonnie's reverie. "I'm being thrown a going away party at Alaric's. It's supposed to be a surprise, but this is a small town and news travels fast."

Bonnie smiled.

"This might be the opportunity you were looking for," Lucy implied cryptically while staring at Bonnie pointedly.

It didn't take Bonnie long to figure out her hidden meaning. After that showdown with Kol and Damon, Bonnie was sure that the latter's ego had been threatened and he would do something drastic to show he wasn't a little bitch or weakling. This may work in Bonnie's favor or against her. Yet, going forward, she'd have to be shrewd.

Lucy looked sheepish for a moment. "I know it seems like I'm _always_ leaving right when you need me the most—but this time I'm leaving something very important behind, baby girl."

"What?"

"My cell phone number."

Bonnie laughed.

**When Kol entered **the garish Mikaelson compound he wasn't overly surprised to find his brother painting maddeningly against a canvass, nor was he caught off guard with Rebekah giving herself a manicure. She had taken to doing her nails at least four times a week, unable to commit to a color just as she was unable to commit to a side to stand on. One minute she hated Niklaus and wanted him dead, and the next she was actually coming to his defense.

"Where have you been?" Rebekah asked without taking her eyes off her nails.

"Running an errand," Kol answered and then shook his head feeling bemused.

"Do they have the stake or not?" Klaus demanded without breaking stride with his painting.

Instead of answering his brother right away, Kol sauntered over to the liquor supply and helped himself to a drink. What he wouldn't kill for a pint of AB right now from a living source.

He tossed the drink back and then removed his jacket. "I'm sure it's hidden somewhere but I doubt the Salvatore's would be that stupid to keep it on their property."

Both blonde Originals stared at Kol drolly.

"Any progress with the witch?" Rebekah jumped to the next topic of discussion.

Thinking of Bonnie brought an instant smile to Kol's lips. "Progress of which kind, sister? Although I am shamelessly handsome it's going to take more than one two-minute conversation to lure her to our side. But again, what do we need her for? There are a million witches out there. Isn't that right, Niklaus?"

The hybrid said nothing to this but merely kept up his painting. He needed the witch because as luck would have it, the spell to unbind his life with his siblings was in the grimoire currently in Bonnie's possession. Klaus could easily threaten the lives of her friends and her father to get Bonnie to comply with his wishes, but Klaus found the idea of Bonnie _willingly _joining him far more appealing. Besides when was the last time he had to work for anything?

His wooing of Caroline Forbes was beginning to turn stagnant. She was a loyal one and without any dirt on her boyfriend, Klaus was pretty much out of options in winning her affections. She was easy enough on the eyes and presented a challenge, but again, Klaus only put his money on stock he knew he could win.

Bonnie on the other hand had proven to be much more susceptible to manipulation if you knew which buttons to push. It would be next to nothing to convince her that her friends would not stand up for her when she would need them to, expect them to. Their previous track record spoke for itself.

Nevertheless, he was allowing the Salvatore's to believe that _he _believed they had given him all of the white oak stakes that had been fashioned from the old Wickery Bridge sign. Klaus knew there were at least one possibly two more hidden somewhere, and he was determined to find them and crush the Salvatore's for playing him in the process.

Yet his main objective was Bonnie. His mother, the sly wench had performed a spell linking his life with that of his siblings so whatever befell one befell them all. However, she was only using it as a failsafe to keep Klaus from making more hybrids. If he stepped out line, Esther would find someway to end them all, and naturally Finn was only too eager to help their mother in her quest.

Klaus stared up at his younger brother who was looking reflective, which was so unlike Kol because Klaus was sure that if you looked in his ear you could see straight through.

"What's on your mind, brother?" Klaus asked.

"Nothing."

"Not surprising," Rebekah muttered and blew on her nails.

"Suck a cock, Rebekah," Kol bit out.

Rebekah grimaced. "Why don't you go and get yours sucked. Oh, my apologies you don't have one."

Klaus smiled, shook his head, and continued painting. Family, you gotta love 'em.

**Lucy's going away party **was being held on the rooftop of Alaric's apartment building. Initially it had meant to be a surprise, but Lucy had a nose for sniffing out parties and was able to put two and two together. For his benefit alone she turned up the faux surprise as she was led blindfolded to the roof where all the friends she had made while living in Mystic Falls yelled "Surprise!"

Damon had already downed half a bottle of whiskey by the time he showed up at Ric's and at present he was chewing ice cubes and crowd surfing.

In his mind he played back his morning with Bonnie. Waking up beside her had been—nice. Damon shook his head because that word seemed inadequate. It was_ nice_ to wake up period considering what he was, but waking up beside a warm body of a sexy girl—made some interesting activity take place in his pants.

But then his morning had almost gone straight to hell when Kol Mikaelson showed up out of the blue or either in a strategic move. Damon might appear as if he had zero intelligence and foresight, but he knew the Original was snooping around and what he was after had very little to do with the vampire blood thief, but everything to do with that white oak stake.

Then there was Bonnie to consider. He wanted to know why she was going out of her way to spend time with him knowing their past and that very little good came out of it.

He never got the chance to ask though. He was sidetracked by Lucy. He knew this was her last night in Mystic Falls and well—he had gotten used to her. Damon was used to people floating in and out of his life—some leaving it permanently, but honestly he hated to see her go because she was his other drinking partner.

Inevitably his thoughts shifted back to Bonnie, but more to the matter that comment Kol made about eating her. It bothered Damon but for the life of him he couldn't put his finger on why. Bonnie's sex life—what was he saying she didn't have one—if she did it was none of his business, but still…he didn't like the idea of Bonnie hooking up with Kol. Those two together just seemed…unnatural.

Something told Damon to look towards the door which led to the roof and when he did he swallowed a chunk of ice down his windpipe.

Bonnie paused in the doorway as she looked around at the bodies milling about on the rooftop. Damon didn't chance blinking afraid he might miss something important. Yet it was equally difficult to look away.

With his sight it was impossible to miss the changes Bonnie had done to her appearance. For one her hair had been died jet black and rippled with layers that stopped right under her breasts, and bangs had been cut to shape her oval face. The darker hair color made her eyes glow like kryptonite. He had never seen her eyes so vibrant before. Her makeup was flawless. False eyelashes feathered around her eyes giving them a cat-like shape. But she added a slash of color with blood red lipstick that drew attention to her Cupid's bow shaped mouth.

Bonnie had chosen to wear a black lace dress that hugged her curves. The fabric of the dress molded to her petite frame paying homage to her impressive rack, her child-bearing hips, and the swell of her ass.

She moved through the crowd with a her shoulders square and her head held high not in defiance or like an elitist snob, but like a women who knew of the impact her physical appearance could have on a man. On her feet were a shockingly pair of black leather pumps with metal spikes racing down the heel.

Damon coughed to clear his airway as he watched Bonnie stroll up to her friends and dispense hugs. Everyone was surprised by her transformation but they all loved it.

Stefan strolled up to his brother and stood next to him. "Have you noticed something different with Bonnie?" Damon asked.

"Other than the fact she looks smokin' hot and my dick's hard, nope."

Damon snapped his head to look at his brother.

Stefan snickered. "I'm kidding."

_Okay, _Damon thought. "Yeah, she's beautiful but that's not what I was talking about."

"Then please enlighten me."

Damon could go down the list but he just wasn't in the mood to do that. He could begin with the fact she seemed more at ease around him, flirted with him, and even ogled him while he got dressed the morning after their first sleepover. Not that he minded any of it, but that's not what the _old _Bonnie would have done.

And to see her now…kind of dressed like a dominatrix making several heads spin and twist completely off while being completely oblivious to the heart palpitations she was causing—these were all new developments.

"She's just different," Damon said lamely.

Elena grabbed Bonnie gently by the elbow to draw her away from their circle of friends. "You look so badass, Bonnie," she smiled.

"Why, thank you. I'm feeling badass."

"Hmm…would this have anything to do with the fact you slept with Damon the other night?"

Bonnie stared at Elena unblinking for a moment. Elena continued. "Bonnie…I hoped you wouldn't let Damon take advantage of your situation…"

"Elena," Bonnie interrupted. "If you're about to lecture me about spending time with Damon, please don't. Yes, we slept…in the same bed. That's all that happened. We didn't have sex. And even if we did I don't see why you'd have a problem with it."

Elena lost her eyebrows to her hairline. "But Damon said…"

"And you should know by now that you can only believe half of what comes out of his mouth and then divide that by two."

Elena looked immensely relieved and this worried Bonnie considerably. "I was concerned because technically you're still with Jeremy."

Hmm, Bonnie hadn't thought about that. Yet she had read in the chronicle that Jeremy cheated on her with Anna's ghost. So in her mind their relationship ended by default. It went without saying, Bonnie was not going to play second fiddle to a motherfreakin' ghost.

"My relationship with Jeremy has run its course."

"Then you should tell him that because here he comes."

Damon continued to watch even when Jeremy crept up behind Bonnie and tapped her on the shoulder. Cautiously she turned around, resignation flitted across her face and she tentatively hugged Gilbert Junior. Damon snorted and he looked away but inexorably found his attention going back to them. Elena had walked off to give the estranged lovers some privacy.

"It's so good to see you up and walking and talking. I was so worried you'd never wake up again, Bonnie."

She smiled.

"You look amazing," Jeremy couldn't keep his eyes off her exposed cleavage through the lace.

"Thank you," Bonnie admired Jeremy as well. He had gotten a haircut since the last time she saw him. Gone was the swoop of hair that covered his forehead. His new do made him look older, more mature.

"Bonnie…I'm not sure if you know what happened between me and Anna…" he began guiltily.

"I do. It was in the book, the chronicle of everything that happened."

"I was so worried about what was going on with you and Anna was there…"

Bonnie held up a hand to silence him. "Jeremy I don't want or need an explanation for what happened," she took a deep breath. "You fell in love with the ghost of your ex-girlfriend, and I…" Bonnie resisted searching the crowd for Damon. She knew he was there somewhere, silly as it sounded she could feel him.

"You what?" Jeremy prompted. "Is there someone else?"

There was no need to plant any ideas in his head about a possible reconciliation, yet she merely shrugged. Jeremy frowned at her so severely that she immediately caught an attitude.

"In all of a few days!" he demanded. "You've gone from being completely dead to the world to liking someone in the span of a few days!"

This drew the attention of several people.

"And if I did, what's it to you? Don't try and get possessive on me now because you had no problem throwing what we had out the window to hook up with a ghost."

Jeremy pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can't apologize enough for what I did. And I regret it. I _really _do, but you don't know what it was like to see you in a coma."

"I understand it was hard for everyone but imagine what it was like for me," Bonnie tapped her chest. _Living in world of make believe where she fell hard for her enemy. _

"Bonnie," Jeremy almost whispered. "I think we can work things out if we talked about it."

Unfortunately she shook her head sadly. "There's nothing to work out, Jeremy."

Matt approached and threw an arm over Bonnie's shoulder. "Hey, everything okay?"

"Stay out of this, Matt," Jeremy said sternly.

"Jeremy!" Bonnie's tone was reproachful. She wasn't going to get into this now, not at her cousin's going away party. "Matt, we're fine. In fact so fine we should go dance."

Matt looked worried as Bonnie pulled him away. In the center of the rooftop Bonnie swung Matt in front of her and began dancing. He was as stiff as a board and moved his feet reluctantly. Bonnie tried to prevent her eyes from rolling.

Damon had witnessed the whole event and snickered. He smirked when a blonde who had been eyeing him for most of the night finally strolled over to him.

Lucy watched from the impromptu bar that had been set up on the far end of the roof. She eyed her cousin, found Damon in deep conversation with a bleached blonde, and frowned. An idea popped up in her head. To the right of the bar was the DJ booth. Lucy picked up the microphone.

"Hey, everybody!"

The music was stopped abruptly as those who were either dancing or sitting on lawn chairs swung their gaze over to Lucy.

"I wanted to go ahead and thank everyone in advance for coming out tonight celebrating my last night here in Mystic Falls," she waited as some people clapped whereas others groaned their displeasure at her impending departure. "But before I go, I want to see if any guy here can break Monty the undisputed arm-wrestling champion of the world's record. Do I have any volunteers?"

Several men immediately began to look intimidated. While others looked eager to try thanks to getting a confidence boost from alcohol. However, no one was making a move. "Okay, so I see some persuasion is needed. Whoever wins…they will get a kiss from my cousin—Bonnie," she pointed right at the startled young woman.

Bonnie's mouth fell open in incredulity and her eyes narrowed. Lucy winked conspiratorially and Bonnie caught on to what she was doing.

All eyes planted on Bonnie. The guys took one look at her and there was a virtual stampede.

"Monty, come up here!"

Monty was a body building freak, about the size of a professional linebacker. The crowd parted as he made his way over to Lucy. His shirt was so tight it looked like it was seconds from exploding.

Lucy walked to the other side of the bar and cleared some space. The men who wanted a go with Monty lined up behind each other. She flicked her eyes over to Damon and saw that he was watching but had made no move to join the rank of prospects.

Monty rested his elbow on the countertop and held his arm in the upright position as the first challenger stepped up. The match was over in three seconds flat.

This continued for fifteen minutes and nearly every guy who had been invited tried their best and walked away with their pride tucked between their tails.

"I think I'm going to give it a shot," Stefan said more to himself but Damon overheard him.

"You remember what happened the last time you tried to arm wrestle," he snickered as he thought of Mason Lockwood.

Stefan frowned at his brother. "Yeah, but at least I know Monty isn't a werewolf." Stefan strolled over. "Wish me luck!"

Stefan approached and Lucy instantly perked up. She watched as the vampire moved into position, grabbed Monty by the hand and waited for the signal to start. Once it was given, Stefan made it seem like he was being beaten before he twitched his arm and slammed Monty's fist on the counter.

The crowd exploded with applause and taunts that Monty a supposedly grown man was just beaten by a high school student.

"I want a rematch!" Monty demanded.

"You lost fair and square," Stefan mouthed unsympathetically. He turned and spotted Bonnie in the crowd. "Come over here, woman and kiss me."

Bonnie giggled a bit and shook her head as she approached Stefan. They stood almost toe-to-toe.

Stefan cupped her very gently by the cheek, lowered his head, and then, a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.

The vampire who had his mouth ready to devour Bonnie's, looked over his shoulder and saw his brother standing behind him, his blue eyes doing that wild thing they did.

"Hold up, Stef. I want to challenge the new winner."

Stefan released his hold on Bonnie, cocked his head in that special way he did and lifted his brows. The brothers walked over to the bar.

Lucy looked excitedly at her cousin as Bonnie tried to play it cool.

Damon rolled up the sleeve to his button down and rested his arm in the upright position. Stefan gripped his hand tightly. Lucy laid her palm on their joined hands and then let go.

Neither brother was moving the other an inch. It was a complete and total stalemate. Damon figured he'd be the victor because he drank his blood three times a day whereas Stefan abstained for weeks at a time, only drinking enough to remain alive. However, for some strange reason either he started eating Wheaties or something, he couldn't budge Stefan's arm.

Then suddenly his arm dropped to a forty-five degree angle. "The hell-," Damon grunted and tried to work his arm in the opposite direction to drive Stefan's knuckles into the bar. Didn't work though.

Damon gritted his teeth and when he looked at his brother he noticed that Stefan wasn't straining or struggling.

"Whatever you're doing, Lucy, stop it," Damon warned through clenched teeth.

She was affronted. "Screw you, Damon because your ass is losing all on your own."

And right before he called her a dirty name, his hand was slammed into the bar. Stefan lifted both hands up in victory and happily made his way back to Bonnie. He actually leapt in the air and kicked his heels together.

Overkill, Damon shook his head at his brother's ridiculousness.

This time Stefan cupped Bonnie by both cheeks, angled her head up and sealed his mouth over hers.

Damon cinched his teeth on top of one another as he pulled down his shirt and watched his brother practically molest Bonnie's mouth. And to his astonishment Bonnie appeared to be loving every single moment of it.

_Sweet lord, _Bonnie thought. Stefan was an _excellent _kisser yet he kept things PG. There was no tongue involved but none was needed. He had a way of sucking lips that could rival a vacuum cleaner. After a moment or two of enjoying this, Bonnie pulled away. Stefan boldly licked his lips cleaning away all traces of her lipstick, stepped away, and winked at Bonnie before disappearing in the crowd.

Bonnie arched an eyebrow, wiped a corner of her mouth and marched right over to the bar. She saddled up next to Damon, completely ignoring his existence, yet was burning because that's how badly he was staring at her.

"A little parched?" he asked almost snidely.

Bonnie blinked her eyes as if _now _realizing Damon had been standing next to her the whole time. "Oh, hey Damon," she said cheerily. "I am parched actually. Will you do a shot with me?"

Damon hiked a dark eyebrow in the air and then hunched a shoulder. "Shot of Wild Turkey for me," he told the bartender, "and…"

"I want to do a blow job," she said.

The bartender looked startled and Damon looked…well salacious.

Their shots were placed in front of them. Damon hesitated throwing his back as he watched Bonnie push her hair behind her shoulders, and then she locked her hands behind her back. She wrapped her lips around the shot glass, picked it up, and threw it back.

Several men had ceased all action to watch the show. Bonnie dropped the empty shot glass back on the bar top with her hands still braced behind her back. Her hair fell forward concealing her face. Bonnie wiped whipped cream from the top of her lip and sucked it off her digit. She moaned a little.

Damon averted his eyes when Bonnie stared up at him. He threw back his shot.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Damon?" Bonnie began a conversation.

He had been up until ten minutes ago. He shrugged and ordered another shot. "I've been to better parties."

"I'm sure you have during your prolonged life."

"I saw you with the Gilbert kid…you okay?"

Bonnie locked gazes with Damon. "Careful…I might start to think you actually care."

He grinned at her familiar words. "We wouldn't want that now would we?"

"No, then that wouldn't be us," she moved until there was hardly an inch of space between them. "But then last night, this morning…we certainly weren't in character."

"I don't know about you but that's me twenty-four seven," he winked. "But there's something different about you, Judgey."

She smirked. "And have you taken it upon yourself to solve the mystery?"

His eyes darkened to a deep blue. "Do you want me to?"

Bonnie thought for a moment before answering. "No, because that's someone else's job."

Damon narrowed his eyes. "Kol's? Stefan's?"

It wasn't hard to miss the hard edge to his tone. Bonnie shrugged, "Sorry, they aren't my type."

Surprise flashed on his face before he quickly banked it. "Who is your type?" Damon carefully enunciated his question.

Before Bonnie had the chance to answer his question, Lucy came over and wrapped one arm over Damon's shoulder effectively capturing his attention.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I need to borrow him for a second," Lucy brought her dark brown eyes over to her cousin. "You don't mind do you, cuz?"

"No," Bonnie waved a dismissive hand in the air and then proceeded to watch her cousin drag Damon away who certainly wasn't protesting. Feeling particularly miffed, Bonnie made herself comfortable on a nearby stool.

Would it be such a bad thing if she cornered Damon one day and simply told him that she liked him? Bonnie wondered. Of course he would be confused as to how this all came about and would probably demand some insight into her developing feelings for him. Would Damon believe her if she said that her feelings were the product of the erotic things he said to her while she was in a coma, and they manifested itself into an alternate reality where they were a couple? More than likely Damon would probably laugh in her face and tell her to get real and live in their reality where they barely tolerated one another, and that they should keep things the way they were.

Yet staring at Lucy and Damon while they apparently talked shop while dancing, standing impossibly too close to one another, maybe Damon just saw her as a kid, Bonnie thought. Lucy was all woman with life experiences Bonnie hadn't even tapped into yet. He would want to be with someone a little more established, someone with tons more bedroom experience, someone he wouldn't have to teach the basics to. The only teenager Damon had made an exception for had been Elena, and Bonnie had yet to question if he were totally over whatever it was they had.

Damon had been willing to let the whole town burn if it meant he could be with Elena. And had lit the match in his quest to resurrect Katherine. There was no way he'd ever love her like that.

The more she thought on this, the more depression was beginning to settle in. Bonnie decided it was time to call it a night.

She clamored off the stool and then discreetly said her goodbyes to her friends. She avoided running into Jeremy who of course stole glances at her all night, but had the good sense to maintain his distance. Stefan was engrossed in some heated debate with Tyler about something sports related, yet paused long enough to inquire if she would be all right making it back to the boardinghouse on her own.

Bonnie inhaled deeply before making her way over to Lucy and Damon. She tapped her cousin on her bare shoulder.

"I just wanted to say goodnight."

Lucy stared at Bonnie in confusion. "You're leaving?"

Bonnie nodded. "Yeah, my feet are beginning to kill me and I'm still sorta not used to being up this long. Lame, I know," she laughed self-deprecatingly and kept her eyes off Damon.

Lucy pulled Bonnie off to the side. She hoped Bonnie wasn't misinterpreting her pulling Damon away. She had been listening to their conversation and thought it diplomatic to intervene before Bonnie could give an answer to who was her type. It was always best to keep a little mystery surrounding yourself.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lucy asked, staring deep in Bonnie's green eyes.

"I'm fine. I mean…I feel fine. I just want to get out of here."

Lucy shifted until her back was to Damon yet she was still highly aware of the fact he could hear every single word that passed through her lips.

"You know I wasn't trying to…"

Bonnie vigorously nodded her head and then wrapped her arms around Lucy, drawing her in for a hug. "Are you going to stop by the boardinghouse before you hit the road?"

Lucy didn't respond until she pulled away. "Yeah. Maybe Damon should take you home just to be on the safe side."

As much as Bonnie liked that idea, right now her preference was to be alone. "He's a having a good time and I don't want to abruptly end his night. I'll be fine. See you, Lucy."

"Call me, baby girl to let me know you made it home okay."

Nodding one final time, Bonnie vacated the party.

**Sometimes it was** just hard as fuck to stay away from something or someone even when you had every reason in the world to abstain. Yet she couldn't. Or more to the matter, Bonnie didn't want to. The hour was late. She made sure of that. Having stayed up after making it back to the boardinghouse via taxi, Bonnie weighed over her options. She could put her little crush aside, compartmentalize it, and ignore its existence, or she could make her feelings known and ride out the wave. Rejection was a part of life yet Bonnie wasn't sure she was mature enough to handle that level of rejection.

Damon and Stefan had gotten in sometime after one in the morning, pounding upstairs singing some Rolling Stones song off key. Bonnie waited an additional hour before slipping out of her bedroom, and taking the familiar path to Damon's room.

She had no idea of knowing whether he was asleep or not, but then she heard some sound that reminded her of a chainsaw; he was snoring. She stifled her chuckles and then tentatively turned the doorknob and pushed open the door.

His room was pitch-black of course, but he left the drapes open so moonlight poured into the room, becoming a spotlight on his bed. Bonnie walked on her toes over to his bed, and then froze.

What was she doing? What she was doing was borderline stalker-ish and creepy, but Bonnie was sure that Damon had done this hundreds of times and felt vindicated. But still, what exactly was she hoping to accomplish? That he might turn over, grab her, kiss her, disrobe her, thrust into her, and ravish her the way he did in her dreams?

Just the thought alone made butterflies flutter in her stomach, as heat flushed her womb and blood rushed to her clit, hardening it.

Bonnie drew just a little closer and saw that Damon was asleep on his back, his head turned away from her. Her fingers ached to trace his abdominals, to slide over that delicious V between his hips, before heading farther south.

Her breathing changed which she wasn't aware of. Bonnie flicked her eyes back to his face. He was still sleeping, still snoring like a Mac truck barreling down a road.

If she felt him up would that make her a molester? The idea alone made Bonnie want to suck her teeth in distaste.

His hand, the left one, the one he wore his daylight ring on was hanging off the edge of the bed. Maybe she should push it back on the mattress and then pull the covers up. Not like he got cold, but there wouldn't be anything wrong with tucking him in. No, nothing wrong with that at all. In fact she would be doing him a favor as one friend to another. Her actions and presence in his room totally justified.

Bonnie repressed the need to clear her throat because she was sure Damon was a very light sleeper and couldn't chance getting caught. However, she was amazed he hadn't detected her presence thus far. Nonetheless, Bonnie cleared the space that separated her from the bed, and then, very lightly picked up his left hand but got a little distracted by the weight and feel of it. He had such nice hands; they were twice the size of hers. Bonnie marveled for a moment, staring at his pale flesh in the moonlight, tracing the veins that raced from the back of his hand up to his arm.

Without thinking, Bonnie laced her fingers with his. Instant warmth and a feeling of oneness overcame her and she had to resist with everything in her not to climb in bed with Damon and snuggle. They didn't share that type of relationship, she brutally reminded herself. Even when she threw all those reasons out, it didn't stop her from taking some liberties. Her finger traced the shape of his daylight ring. It was such a majestic piece of jewelry. And it wasn't until now that Bonnie noticed his initial was engraved in the gilt work.

Bonnie knew that Emily had spelled his and Stefan's rings, yet Bonnie wondered who the craftsman was.

She shook herself out of the thought knowing she was cutting things real close by lingering. Damon could wake up at any moment and Bonnie didn't have a convenient lie established to explain being in his room during booty call hours.

Disengaging her fingers from his, Bonnie hesitated. She could make Damon slap himself, she thought and stifled a laugh, or…

Bonnie shifted so this wouldn't be awkward, but taking his hand, she held his fingers up to her lips and pressed them against her mouth.

Damon twitched and Bonnie dropped his hand and was ready to bolt knowing she'd never make it to the door before he woke up. But he didn't break strides in his snoring, nor did he open his eyes. His head was still very much turned away from her.

Heart racing, Bonnie told herself it was time to leave. But her body was being very disobedient.

Picking his hand up one last time, Bonnie was unsure what to do with it. She thought of how, in her dreams, his hands teased her body into submission, brought her over the edge relentlessly, made her come until she was nearly dried out like a prune.

She _wanted _that feeling back. It was hers damnit!

Bonnie shook her head. She needed to get a hold of herself and fast. Placing his arm over his chest, Bonnie drew the duvet up and then quickly and judiciously made her way to the door.

Unfortunately, a pale white arm shot out past her head and slammed the door closed.

Bonnie's eyes widened as her heart tripled in speed. This definitely triggered a memory.

The same hand she had been playing with landed on her shoulder and turned her around. Bonnie kept her eyes open and though the face she knew was Damon's was shrouded in darkness, that didn't stop fear from licking up her spine. Nor did it stop her from bracing her back tightly against the wood.

Damon braced his other hand on the door effectively boxing her in. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Ah…nothing."

"Did you need something?"

Bonnie was only vaguely aware of the fact that Damon's voice was clear, no indication that he had been completely zonked out only moments ago.

"Ah…"

Damon stepped closer to Bonnie, mere centimeters separating his naked torso from her heaving cleavage. "Did. You. Need. Something?"

Was he offering? Bonnie wasn't sure. Being rendered incapable of speech, she shook her head.

His head cocked to the side, appraising her though she couldn't see it, "Are you sure?"

Bonnie nodded.

Damon stared at her, listened to her rapidly beating heart. He then slipped one hand between her arm and hip, grazing neither as he twisted the doorknob.

Bonnie shuffled her feet as the door was opened and then she found herself standing in the hallway.

"Good night."

The door was closed in her face.

Bonnie stared at the door in confusion and wondered what the hell just happened. Her mouth opened to form a question, but nothing came out. Did he want…? Could she have hit and quit it…?

Bonnie balled her hand into a fist prepared to knock on his door, but she stopped, snorted, and sadly made her way back to her room.

Damon lied on his back, one arm folded behind his head, the other lifted in the air as he stared at his left hand feeling the phantom touch of Bonnie's fingers grazing his.

"What were you up to, little witch?" he asked.

Chapter end.

**A/N: I really wanted to incorporate some smut into this chapter, but I wasn't in a smutty mood lol. With the hurricane, being sick, this was what I came up with. I hope it was satisfactory since I had you guys waiting a month for this. I'm still trying to flesh out the back story I want to use and Kol's character and role. Because Nate ships Kennett harder than Kennett stans I'd like him to have some interaction with Bonnie in this story, but I'm trying to avoid triangles. To those who were following this from the first time I posted, I'm sure you remember there was quite a bit of Stefonnie, and because I love Stefan's attitude, I'm keeping that in this story, but throwing in Kennett just to see what happens. All right, guys let me know what you think. Until next time, love you!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Bonjour kittens. I know it's been a while since an update for this has flashed in your email inbox, my sincere apologies. Life, other works in progress, life, and writer's block are all culprits in the hold up. Hope you're still interested in reading this, if you are please let me know. Thanks and enjoy! This chapter I'm introducing an OC.**

Disclaimer: These characters (except my OC) are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Worried green eyes **stared up at the ceiling. Today was Monday and Bonnie's first official day back at school. For the last four months everyone had been under the ruse that she had been apart of a student exchange program living with a family in Brazil. She had to shake her head ruefully at the lies her friends spun like a spider's web to keep people from prying into her business.

Dressed in nothing more substantial than a black satin robe that hit her about mid-thigh, Bonnie kept replaying her behavior last night over and over in her mind. Her skin warmed considerably at her mental instant replay of seeing Damon's naked torso up close and personal. Her hands had never itched so badly to touch something in her entire life, and his question: was there something he could help her with? Did he know? Could he sense it and if so would he really have stripped her naked and done all of the sinfully wicked things he had done to her that occurred in her dreams? Bonnie felt she was getting a little ahead of herself.

Damon probably didn't view her in a sexual light at all. She had no idea if he may still be hung up on Elena or not, but she wouldn't risk showing any more cards until she knew exactly where they stood.

A knock on her bedroom door interrupted her musings. Bonnie slid out of bed and tucked her shoulders back into her robe.

"Come in," she said.

Stefan entered her bedroom. He didn't seem surprised or embarrassed to have caught her in her robe. Since she had been awake she noticed that Stefan was a little less rigid. He had always been a bit formal with her, kept her arm's length because he wanted to be sensitive about her feelings towards vampires. But lately, it was like that line in the sand which kept them apart he wiped it away with his foot.

"Ready for your first official day back to monotony?" he asked and crossed his arms over his flannel covered chest.

Bonnie smiled and then stared down at the two outfits she laid out on the bed. The other day Caroline had taken her shopping.

"No," Bonnie replied honestly. "School was the last thing on my mind before everything turned to shit."

Stefan joined Bonnie in critiquing her choices. "Can't decide which conservative blouse to wear?" he teased.

Bonnie popped him playfully on the stomach. "Shut up. They're not conservative but weather appropriate."

"I'd say go for the blue. Vibrant colors look excellent against your skin."

Bonnie stared at him in surprise. "You think I look good in colors?"

"Are we fishing for compliments or something?" he snorted. "You know you look good in anything you put on. _Your_ body was made to wear clothes."

She laughed. "Wasn't everybody's?"

Stefan shook his head. "No. Some people look better naked. Myself included."

Bonnie's jaw fell open as she laughed soundlessly. "You are a hot mess, Stef."

"Hurry up and get dressed. I'm taking you to school." And as quickly as he entered her bedroom he was gone.

Bonnie dressed in record time, made sure her hair framed her face perfectly, applied makeup liberally, and met Stefan downstairs. He held her satchel in his hands.

Damon walked into the atrium armed with a glass of whiskey. "Have a good day at school, honey," he said absently and took a sip of his drink.

Bonnie ignored the pitter-patter beat to her heart at the endearment, and shouldered her satchel. "I'm ready, Stefan."

The vampire in question picked up his car keys and opened the door allowing Bonnie to walk ahead of him. Once she strolled on by he swatted her butt.

Bonnie squealed, jumped, and glared at him before allowing a tiny smile to crease her lips. "Stefan," she said reproachfully.

Damon's eyebrow of its own volition rose in the air.

Stefan hunched his shoulders. "My hand slipped."

"Whatever. It happens again you might not have a hand. Keep that in mind."

"Yes, ma'am," he said with a Kool-Aid grin on his face. Before leaving, Stefan winked at his brother and slid his Aviator shades on.

Despite the ass slapping slip Stefan had been the perfect gentleman after closing the front door to the house. He opened up the passenger side door for Bonnie and didn't pull out of the driveway until she had her seat belt on.

They were quiet for a minute. This allowed Bonnie to go through her history with Stefan. She smiled fondly in memory of the first time she saw him. He did have a hot back, and it never bothered her that he caught eyes for Elena—despite she had been the one to notice him first. Call it fate, but even from that moment Bonnie knew that Stefan would fall hopelessly in love with her friend.

Now everything was so different. Stefan wasn't that character drawn to life from a romance novel. He had been talked about extensively in the chronicle. She was aware of the fact he traveled across the country with Klaus trying to find werewolves to turn. Bonnie shuddered to think what he had to do to constantly show his loyalty and obedience to that freak of nature, but whatever the after effects might have been, Stefan was trying to find his balance.

"Stefan I never got around to thanking you for sitting with me when I was in a coma."

Her voice caused him to take his eyes off the road to look over at her. "If the roles were reversed I know you would have done the same for me. Besides…I kind of felt responsible."

Bonnie's eyes narrowed in contemplation. "What do you mean you felt responsible? It wasn't your fault what happened that night."

"I'm not just talking about that night, Bonnie, but everything that preceded it. I was always the one coming to you asking for help. You were using so much magic back then…something like that would have happened eventually. I kind of exacerbated it."

Bonnie stared back at Stefan with understanding in her eyes. Of course he would try to shoulder the blame for what happened.

"I had a choice back then, Stefan. I could have said no, but I didn't. I wanted to keep Elena safe because she's my family. And…I couldn't just sit around and do nothing and allow her to be killed and other people to get hurt."

"Yeah," he muttered. "The good it did. Klaus still managed to break his curse. The Original family walks the earth. Everything we did to prevent the inevitable had been in vain."

"Not every plan sees the light of success," Bonnie retorted sagely.

"But you're okay?" Stefan asked suddenly. "You feel fine?"

Bonnie nodded her head and smiled. "I feel excited. I have the chance to change my future, to shape it into what I want it to be, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to be afraid of anything anymore," she looked over at him. "What about you, Stefan? What is your next big move?"

He grinned, and pulled the Porsche into Mystic Falls' senior lot. "That's for me to know and for you to find out." Stefan cut the engine of his car and made a move to get out, but hesitated. He shifted until he faced Bonnie head on. "I feel like I should apologize for being forward with you this morning."

Bonnie waved a hand in the air to dismiss the notion. "No harm no foul."

"Are you sure? I mean…I couldn't but help overhear your conversation with Jeremy at Lucy's party. If you are interested in someone else, I don't want to step on any toes."

Bonnie shook her head. "For right now there is no one else. So step away if you like," she flashed her green orbs at him and saw the wheels in his head turning. "Do you think there is?"

Stefan shrugged and strummed his fingers over the steering wheel. "I don't want to say."

"I'm technically grown…wait a second," she gasped. "I'm eighteen."

"Yeah," Stefan drew the word out, and frowned when a devastated look crumbled Bonnie's face. "What's wrong?"

She stared imploringly at him. "I'm eighteen. I missed my birthday!"

"Damn," Stefan whispered. "Wait…I thought you were born April 15th? That's a month away."

Relief flooded her body and Bonnie pulled Stefan into a bone crushing hug or at least tried to. "Crisis aborted!" Bonnie laughed airily. The bell for the start of the day rung and Bonnie hastily climbed out of the car. "Come on, Stefan before we're late."

**Jeremy waited at the end **of the hall as students spilled out of their classrooms talking boisterously amongst themselves. He was practically invisible but then pushed away from the wall when his target came within view.

Bonnie was speaking with a girl Jeremy had seen around town a couple of times but didn't know her name. She was so heavily engrossed in her conversation that she didn't see him fall into step beside her, until the unidentified girl stared up at Jeremy curiously. Bonnie followed the girl's wondering eye, and then slowed her steps.

"I'll catch you later, Bonnie. I'm so glad you're back," the girl gushed.

Bonnie offered a smile. "It's good seeing you, too, Cassie." Bonnie hitched the leather strap of her satchel higher on her shoulder and began to head towards her locker. "Hey, Jeremy."

He displayed that boyish grin that used to turn her insides into mush. "I'm glad you're back. You look beautiful."

"Thank you," Bonnie pushed a strand of chocolate hair behind her ear. She hadn't exactly prepared herself to run into Jeremy but knew it was inevitable being the school and the town was so small.

Suddenly Bonnie felt really young, and it typically happened when she was near Jeremy. There was something about him that made her feel younger than her years, when it should have been the other way around considering she was older than him. When Jeremy started showing an interest in her, Bonnie felt it was happening out of nowhere, and that things were progressing much too soon. Her plate was full in finding a way to break the supposed sun and moon curse, trying to prevent Elena from martyring herself, and dealing with irresponsible vampires too boot.

But Jeremy had provided that pillar of strength and fortitude that she needed in order to take on Klaus. Yes, it annoyed her that he questioned her ability to defeat the rumored most powerful vampire in the world, but Jeremy went along with her plans even if he hated it.

"Hey, can we talk for a second?" Jeremy asked.

"I have class," Bonnie tried to deflect as she strolled up to her locker and tried to remember her combination. Since being back something's came easily to Bonnie, like navigating her way through the school, but the small things like her locker combination, and remembering room numbers was stumping her.

Jeremy saw her struggle and bumped her out of the way with his hip. He opened her locker and then beamed as if he just rescued a busload of screaming children.

Bonnie rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Thanks," she said and then quickly exchanged books.

"No problem. Are you glad to be back…in school?"

"I'm still adjusting so the jury is out. I mean, I like seeing all my friends, but sitting in class for ninety minutes is a drag. I haven't been able to concentrate all day."

"Yeah, that's how I felt after coming back from Denver. The school system there is so different. Much more interactive."

Bonnie looked up at Jeremy. She had been curious about his time spent miles away from home. She wondered if Jeremy knew that Elena had asked Damon to compel him for his own safety.

Jeremy cleared his throat. "How are things at the boardinghouse? You're still living there?"

"Yeah, it's cool."

Jeremy waited to see if Bonnie would elaborate and when she didn't that prompted him to ask his next question. "Has Damon been behaving himself? You two…weren't exactly on the best of terms before you slipped into a coma."

Her locker sounded like a gunshot when Bonnie slammed it closed. "When is Damon on the best of terms with anybody?"

Jeremy chuckled lowly. He certainly held a ton of resentment towards that dick of a vampire considering he snapped his neck for no gotdamn reason. Oh, so Elena rejected him and that was cause enough for Damon to fly into a tantrum and kill him. Nope, Jeremy would never try to go out of his way to find some common ground with Damon Salvatore. Jeremy wasn't like everyone else, willing to overlook Damon's faults because he's misunderstood or whatever lame excuse they decided to come up with to give justifications for his atrocious acts.

It wasn't hard to miss the dark shadow that clouded Jeremy's face. Bonnie very lightly touched his arm and that was enough to lift the clouds and he was smiling again.

"Seriously though," Jeremy continued. "Are you okay being there with just Stefan and Damon?"

"I know it might not seem like the most ideal situation, but things have been good so far. I've gone to my house, but I hate it there."

Jeremy could only vaguely understand Bonnie's plight in that regard. His parents were gone, but he loved home because every time he walked through the door, he felt like he could feel their presence. Bonnie's father was still alive, but he was hardly ever home. So he could only imagine that Bonnie would be greeted with an overwhelming sense of loneliness every time she stepped foot in her house.

The two of them walked to Bonnie's next class although Jeremy needed to be on the opposite side of the school for his art class.

"You know, you don't have to stay at the boardinghouse."

Bonnie hesitated just outside of the door of her classroom. She stared up at Jeremy and noticed that his cheeks were beginning to scarlet over.

"Jer…"

"Just here me out. With Jenna gone, Alaric stays over a few nights out of the week, but he still has his apartment. There are two bedrooms basically collecting dust and you could take one or both. You could move in with us. We'd look after you because we're your friends. I mean, you and I…I know we're not together, but we're friends, right?"

Friends? Bonnie questioned. She guessed she could say that she and Jeremy had been friends to a certain point before they jumped into a relationship. But she wasn't sure that was the proper label to describe what they were now.

"We're friendly," Bonnie hedged much to Jeremy's chagrin. She tried to soften the blow by saying, "Thank you for the offer, but I can't just move in with you guys."

The hope and determination that was shining in Jeremy's eyes nearly vanished. "Why not? I'd say it's a whole hell of a lot better than living with the Salvatore's," Jeremy practically growled.

Just then, Stefan slithered up behind Jeremy and stared at the boy annoyingly for a moment before slipping inside the room.

"Jealous bitch," Stefan muttered to which Jeremy heard and was tempted to flip him off but spotted Bonnie's teacher staring at him crossly.

Bonnie at that moment decided to admire at her shoes. "I need to get to class, Jeremy. We can talk about this later."

Sighing heavily, Jeremy nodded. "All right. Are you doing anything after school? We could grab a bite to eat at The Grill, play a game of pool."

The bell, thankfully, at that moment rung. "I'll think about it," Bonnie said and hustled inside.

**Nero Stathopoulous' fingers **grazed his signet ring with thick fingers—thinking. It was all he had left of his family. Of his home. And unfortunately it was all he could take with him. The circumstances surrounding what happened to his entire family were a harsh kick to the gut, and Nero had yet to catch his breath. He would never again look out and see a lapis lazuli ocean, smell the clean air, plant his feet on rich Greek sand. He would never again hear his father's commanding voice, or his sisters laughter, or his mother's singing. He was a long way from home and a long way from being happy.

The rain poured down on him in buckets. Sometimes the raindrops fell into his pale green eyes blinding his vision, and sometimes they dangled off the tips of his raven eyelashes.

He stood hidden between two large pine trees waiting. The air was chilly and every time his lips parted he could see his breath. The weather conditions being what they were didn't bother him in the least. The dark leather jacket and cotton jeans he wore gave him some protection and warmth from the declining temperature. And he conceded he had suffered worst conditions than a little rain and a chill to the air within the last two months.

Nero didn't allow himself to think about his previous lifestyle. He wouldn't exactly call himself a coward or a runner, but he had to escape his life. Otherwise he would have been buried in a pine box in an unmarked grave.

His teeth cinched on top of one another. How had his life shattered to pieces the way it did? One minute he was the son of one of the most powerful landowners in Central Europe; and the next his family was targeted for some unspecified reason, hunted down, and executed.

Nero narrowly escaped with his life.

Now he stood in the woods of Pennsylvania. Waiting.

The crunch of tires on fallen tree branches and dead leaves caught his attention. Through the thick trees, Nero saw that it was a black late model Ford Explorer. The headlights expired, the driver side door flew open, and out stepped a man wearing an outfit nearly identical to his own. Nero straightened his spine. He couldn't see the man's face, but he knew it was unfriendly.

Nero didn't move from his spot between the trees, but he did reach into his jacket pocket to make sure the switch blade was still there.

When the man stood no more than five feet away from Nero, he slipped off the drenched hood of his pullover.

A pair of squinted sea-green eyes sized him up and Nero couldn't help but feel like he was seconds from being sold at a slave auction. But Nero assessed the man as well. He stood at just average height, with dark hair that was closely cropped giving him a decidedly Caesar look. The man had a heart shaped face that was enhanced by a five o'clock shadow. Faint lines gashed across his forehead, marking his olive complexion.

The man could have been Nero's father.

"Nero Stathopoulous I presume," the man asked in Nero's native language.

Nero inclined his head. "You must be Mikhail Christova," he replied.

"Please, call me Misha. I won't keep you long. I have everything you need. Directions, documents, cash, ID. You'll be pleased to know that the money in your trust has been successfully transferred into an account at a private bank. The account number and all that you'll need is in the car." He pointed over his shoulder in the direction of the SUV.

Nero cooled his features. He thought he'd be handed another bus ticket and told good luck. The thought of driving gave him another sense of independence he had gone without for the last sixty days.

"Are you coming with me?" Nero asked.

"No, but I will come to check on you once you're settled. Just follow the directions as exactly as I have written them. There is a script for you to learn your new identity."

This surprised Nero greatly. He figured he'd go into hiding in another country, but that he'd at least be able to keep his name.

"New identity? That was not explained to me by…"

Misha held up a hand to silence him. "I'm sorry, son," and Misha truly was. He had been in Nero's shoes before. Having to go on the run at a very young age because of his family ties. "But this is how it must be done. Your old life no longer exists. It's too dangerous right now. But no need to look so devastated. Your new name is still Greek in origin just a lot simpler to pronounce," he smiled although it reminded Nero of a shark.

Nero figured that fact should have given him some comfort yet it didn't. He was a Stathopoulous through and through. His family line went back to Francesco II. If he had to deny who he was, then his father must have done something completely incomprehensible.

He stood still for a moment. He was unsure if it would be rude of him to just walk to the SUV without properly thanking Misha for his help.

Misha saw his hesitation and stretched out a hand. Nero took it and shook it.

"Whatever you may think your father was involved in, I assure you it wasn't illegal. He's done all he could to protect you, to secure your future."

Nero nodded, unconvinced.

"And he's made it so you can be near the one person who may very well be able to help you."

That piqued Nero's interest. "Who?"

"You'll find her name within the documents. You should get going. You want to make it Mystic Falls before dark."

**After a long day at the office, **more like wasting the afternoon away getting toasted at Alaric's pad, Damon sauntered into his family home and immediately caught the scent of charcoal burning in the grill and the sound of voices coming from the backyard.

He wasn't terribly surprised to find Bonnie and Stefan having an impromptu barbeque. He flipped his keys in his hand and watched as Bonnie placed several pieces of corn-on-the cob on the grill and then smiled up at his brother. It was just something about the way she kind of tilted her head to the side while she did it that irked Damon for some strange reason. He had caught Bonnie smiling or smirking at his brother plenty of times in the past and it never once bothered him or even made a blip on his radar. As if sensing the nature of his thoughts, Bonnie turned to regard him and offered him a radiant smile before she quickly diverted her attention.

"What are we having?" Damon asked and approached the two of them.

Stefan looked at his brother over his shoulder. "Bonnie wanted meat tonight. I offered her mine but she declined." That comment earned him a slap to his arm which of course didn't affect him in the slightest. "We're having steak."

"I think I like the old Stefan better. At least he had manners and didn't say _everything _that was on his mind," Bonnie reproached.

"He was boring, wasn't he, Damon?"

"A corpse was more fun and entertaining than this dude," Damon hitched his thumb in Stefan's direction.

Shaking her head, Bonnie walked over to the wrought iron table and picked up the pitcher of freshly made iced tea. She poured a glass for herself and then felt Damon hovering.

"Can I help you?" she asked without turning around to acknowledge him.

"I could have sworn that was a question I asked not too long ago, and someone still hasn't given me a sufficient answer."

Bonnie turned to face Damon and took a sip of her tea. "I doubt very seriously that you can help me."

Damon's eyes crinkled around the edges but other than that his expression remained perfectly neutral. He wouldn't have pegged Bonnie to be a creeper, sneaking into a person's bedroom in the middle of the night, but then again he didn't know everything about her.

Yet he felt as if he had just been issued a challenge. And Damon liked a good challenge. At least every once in a while.

As the silence continued between them, Bonnie moved on to prepare the salad. Then a new voice came on the scene.

"Something smells good."

"Why thank you," Damon smiled.

Elena rolled her eyes. "I wasn't talking about you."

Bonnie looked up just in time to see Elena stroll through the patio doors whose eyes fell to the decorated wrought iron table before traveling over to the grill and finally landing on her. Offering her life-long friend a smile, Bonnie went back to preparing the salad.

"Now it's officially a party," Damon said his mood from just seconds before seemingly improving.

Bonnie tried her best to ignore the reason for that, yet she couldn't exactly _not _look at Elena and Damon while they interacted.

Her for her part, Elena wasn't blushing but from the look of pleasure on her face it wasn't very difficult to tell that she still enjoyed being able to capture Damon's attention at will. A nagging feeling clawed at the back of Bonnie's neck. In the past she pretty much stayed neutral on the Damon/Elena front citing it was none of her business on what transpired between them. Bonnie didn't want details or replays of whatever intimate moments they shared. She was Elena's go-to person when she needed a dose of reality, but when it came to Damon it was the unspoken law that Elena find someone else to vent to concerning him.

Green eyes traveled over to Stefan. He still manned the grill as if he didn't have a care in the world. Maybe he really was over Elena. She didn't see him looking at his brother and ex-girlfriend out the corner of his eye, and he didn't appear to be eavesdropping on their conversation, and his shoulders were just as relaxed when it was only the two of them.

Bonnie found herself looking back over to Damon and Elena. Damon had gone off to make himself a drink and after he took a sip, Elena lifted the glass out of his hands and helped herself. Damon attempted to look put off but there was a slight curl to his bottom lip suggesting he was trying his best not to smile. Maybe he still carried a torch for her and always would. That bothered—no—that scared Bonnie.

"Oh, great another mouth to feed," Stefan grumbled under his breath as he slapped the platter of grilled cowhide on the table but then winked conspiratorially at Bonnie.

"Has anyone told you what a ray of sunshine you are, Stefan?" Bonnie teased.

He shrugged and picked up a chopped carrot stick and bit the tip off. "I know I'm the new and improved Mr. Rogers except my sweater is bullet proof."

"Good to know," Bonnie redirected her attention to the table. "Everything looks delicious. I'm ready to eat."

"And so am I," Stefan grinned wolfishly. "Ah, we need salad dressing. I'll be right back."

Bonnie kept her eye on him as he bypassed Damon and Elena without casting them one regretful or scornful look and sauntered into the house.

Damon and Elena finally made their way over to the table pulling out chairs and sitting side-by-side.

"Stefan," Bonnie spoke as if he were standing right beside her. "Can you also grab the A-1 Sauce, salt, and pepper? Thanks."

In two seconds flat Stefan returned with said items and placed everything on the carafe. He took the vacant chair next to Bonnie and leaned over to whisper something in her ear that made her giggle.

Damon's eyes zeroed in on them like a heat seeking missile. He heard what his brother said and wondered for a second when did those two become so chummy.

Everyone began passing the food around and dressing their plates.

"So," Elena said to start a conversation. "How was everyone's day?"

"I got drunk off some _really _good scotch," Damon admitted.

Stefan hunched his shoulders, "I fell asleep in at least three of my classes. I already know all there is to know about high school history, math, and science."

Bonnie and Elena wore mirror bemused expressions on their faces.

The two friends then looked at one another across the table. "How was your first day back, Bonnie? Was it a little weird?"

Pushing the salad leaves around on her plate, Bonnie kept her gaze on everything aside from Damon. "It was a little weird being back after being gone for so long. But it didn't take me long to adjust. Actually I had an interesting conversation with your brother."

"Really? What did you two talk about?" Then suddenly it was like someone turned on a light inside of Elena because she began glowing. "Oh, my God are you two considering getting back together?" she asked excitedly.

Bonnie looked horrified for a moment yet quickly composed her face. The two immortals were busy eating but they were clearly waiting to hear Bonnie's reply.

"No," she finally said. "No, it wasn't…that's not what we talked about. He asked me to move in with you guys."

"Oh," Elena deflated for a second.

"What did you say?" Damon asked.

Bonnie held his gaze. "I told him thanks but I'm happy where I am." And she really hoped he was getting her subliminal message.

Without dropping eye contact, Damon slid the tines of his fork into his mouth and slowly slid it out. Bonnie didn't dare blink.

Elena looked between her best friend and Damon. She sensed that some type of shifted had occurred since Bonnie had been living at the boardinghouse. She figured it might be flirtation at the most, but what she was now feeling, actually being a witness too she wasn't so sure things were exactly a hundred percent platonic between the once feuding allies.

She interrupted their flow. "We'd love to have you, you know if you want to move."

It took a second for Bonnie to look away from Damon who had been studying her intensely. "It's not that I don't, but I've gotten used to being here. It feels like home now."

Stefan wrapped his arm around Bonnie's shoulders and gave her an affectionate squeeze. "Well, I'm glad you're staying. This house could definitely use a woman's presence. But let me take a stab at the reason why he even made the suggestion of you moving," Stefan cleared his voice theatrically which earned him plenty of odd looks around the table. He began speaking in an unnaturally high voice. "Damon and Stefan are psychotic killers and you shouldn't live with them because their vampires. They're going to eat your soul and bury you in the backyard. End scene."

Bonnie laughed. Elena's eyes went heavenward. Damon just shook his head and slapped another piece of steak in his mouth.

"Something to that effect, but not really," Bonnie said.

Damon turned to Elena. "Your brother is a bigot."

She hit his arm playfully. "He is not. He hasn't exactly had the best experience when it comes to vampires."

"Who has?" Stefan and Bonnie said simultaneously before looking at one another and laughed.

**After saying goodnight **to Elena, Bonnie ventured to the library to read for a couple of hours before going to bed. Sitting in one of the overstuffed chairs next to the fireplace, she tossed a blanket over her legs, tucking them to the side, and then picked up the ancient hard back.

Her eyes flew over the opening paragraph but the words weren't computing. Her thoughts were back on dinner but more to the matter what Stefan said, although he said it in a joking manner, it didn't make it any less true. He and his brother _were _psychotic killers. That was nothing new. It was a fact that was pretty much etched in stone like the Ten Commandments. What gnawed at her the most was the fact she was willing to overlook that in favor of having a love life with someone she had been designed to hate.

Had her morals completely fallen into the crapper if she was so willing to just excuse the fact that Damon killed, sometimes in self-defense but a majority of the time on a whim? Should she really be living under the same roof as him and Stefan knowing what she knew of their activities while she had been in a coma, and of course having been privy to their actions prior to that event?

It was scary enough by itself the prospect that she wanted to be in a relationship with Damon. She had changed, but so had he and Bonnie was always one to give credit where credit was due, but at the end of the day could she really do it? Could she really be with him being what he was and being what she was?

Having erotic dreams and fantasies was wonderful and great and an awesome distraction, but Bonnie couldn't exactly use that as a scapegoat to give justification to her ill-fated feelings.

She had observed Damon and Elena's actions on the sly tonight. They appeared friendly, having established their own rapport which worked for them. Whether or not it crossed any lines, it was hard to say. People had a tendency to behave one way when others were watching, and showed their true colors behind closed doors. Damon was Damon no matter where he went. Elena…Bonnie had known her since they were kids, but there were some instances where Bonnie had to question if she really knew her at all.

She wasn't exempt from this either. Bonnie knew she had done her fair share of questionable acts all in the name of keeping her friends—family by extension—alive. Would she have done anything differently? Perhaps.

Yet this didn't really answer the question if Damon was attracted to her, or could grow to be attracted to her. He didn't really have a reaction after Stefan popped her booty this morning. And other than exchanging a few heated looks and words filled with innuendo it would appear he had brushed off her night crawler antics like lint.

"Intro" by The XX started playing in the room interrupting her thoughts. Bonnie's head snapped up as her eyes darted around the room looking for the culprit.

Damon was walking down the short flight of stairs that led to the lower part of the library. He approached Bonnie and took the book out of her hands.

"What are you doing?" she frowned.

He ignored her question and then pulled the blanket off her legs and reached for her hand.

Bonnie was up and on her feet. Damon placed her right hand on his shoulder, and then entwined his fingers with her left and then led her into a simple two step. She arched her neck to stare at Damon questioningly.

"Oh, you're probably wondering: why are we dancing?" he said. "I'm simply doing my part to show you that you made the right decision…when it comes to room and board, I mean."

"Right," Bonnie drew out skeptically. It didn't take long for her to get distracted by the fact there was very little room separating their bodies. Damon held her around her waist almost possessively but not really.

He spun her around. "No, I'm being perfectly serious. Would you rather have to deal with that piss poor excuse for a human on a daily basis who's going to give you puppy dog eyes pleading for a second chance, or stay here? Bonnie, Stefan and I have recognized a long time ago you are a grown ass woman, and will treat you as such."

"Thank you for the consideration, but are you positive you want me to stick around? I mean, I pretty much did cock block you the other night," she grinned.

"Hmm, now that you mention it," Damon's eyes did that wild thing they do. "You do owe me."

Bonnie snorted, "How would you like to be compensated?" she asked flippantly.

The dim light of the library cast part of Damon's face in shadow when he shifted their positions. What Bonnie saw made her breath hitch.

"I get a choice?"

"Options," Bonnie amended. "Although I think I saved you from a major ass kicking when Kol Mikaelson showed up here the other day so I would say that makes us even."

"I had that situation under control," Damon defended himself and quickly steered their conversation back to his original point. "So what are my options?"

"I wasn't being serious."

"Chicken," he chastised.

Bonnie's eyes narrowed then she figured why not take the plunge and see where it might take her.

"Well," Bonnie tapped his right shoulder gently in time with the music, "We could have a sleepover one day out of the week."

Damon made some guttural noise in the back of his throat. "That sounds promising. What else?"

"Or," Bonnie thought for a moment and wondered what was the one thing vampires loved more than anything? She wiggled her hand loose and then brushed her hair off her neck.

Damon's eyes lowered to her offering and he took a step back from Bonnie. She couldn't be serious. He swallowed thickly and then shook the haze from his mind. As tempted as he was, Damon couldn't just bite her, he could, but something about that whole picture just seemed off.

"Bonnie, is there something you want to tell me?"

She blinked those big pretty green eyes at him. "No."

"Liar. I find you trying to sneak out of my room in the wee hours of the morning, and now you're offering up a vein. That's…" he laughed self-deprecatingly. "That's not like you."

No, it wasn't like her to want to be anywhere near him, to seemingly crave his attention, if that's what he was picking up on. But he could be wrong, but if there was one subject he aced in school, it would be women. Suddenly Damon was thrust back into his classroom fantasy dream where he pulled down Bonnie's panties and had her mount a desk giving him a bird's eye view of her soaking wet twat.

It was a little tough to swallow after that image formed in his mind.

"And it's not like you to turn down blood from a fresh, warm source," Bonnie argued finding herself getting unreasonably angry. "Just forget it." She attempted to walk around him, but Damon grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back.

"There's no need to be hasty. I just want to make sure this is something you want because there's no going back," Damon clarified. He cupped her cheek; his thumb accidentally brushed her bottom lip inexplicably drawing his attention to her mouth.

There was very little space separating them yet the contact still wasn't close enough in Bonnie's humble opinion. She could basically count all of his individual eyelashes—top and bottom, could identify the brand of the detergent the dry cleaners used on his black button down shirt.

Damon scented the flavor of Bonnie's lip gloss and wondered very briefly if the taste actually matched the scent. This was the most appropriate time to kiss her and he would if he didn't fear being burnt to a crisp afterwards. But Bonnie had been giving off signals she wouldn't mind playing a little bit of tongue hockey with him, and Damon had been an opportunist his entire life.

Her pupils were dilating and right under the skin of her cheeks, her microscopic capillaries were filling with blood.

Was this considered chasing if she offered herself up on a silver platter, Bonnie wondered idly. She wished Lucy were here, well not here in this room, but here in general. Bonnie figured could laugh this whole thing off and pretend to be outraged and disgusted he'd think she was being serious about him drinking her blood. That's what he would expect.

Except for the fact their heads were so close together, mouths going in perfect alignment for kissing that it was far too late to call this whole thing off. Bonnie's heart raced and her palms were hurting.

"Oh, hey, I'm glad I found you," Alaric burst into the room.

Damon and Bonnie leapt apart, guilty expressions on their faces.

It took a second for Damon to compose himself. He placed his hands on his hips and glared at Alaric. "What the hell do you want?"

Alaric sensed he may have interrupted something. His eyes went left to Bonnie who was nervous and fidgety before swinging right to settle on Damon who appeared as if he were debating on whether or not to make him a head shorter. Hmm. What had he just walked in on?

"There's been another murder right outside of the park. The vic was killed in the same execution style as the two previous murders."

Damon groaned and looked at Bonnie apologetically. "Duty calls. This conversation is far from over."

She grabbed him by the sleeve, detaining him. "Another murder? What's going on? I haven't heard anything about murders."

"I meant to fill you in but hey you were going through some _While You Were Sleeping _shit," Damon explained sheepishly. I'll tell you about it later." Damon swung his attention to his partner-in-crime. "Body still warm?"

The two men began to head for the exit.

"Yeah, it happened not even two hours ago," Alaric said.

Abandoned, Bonnie pivoted on her feet and stared at the dancing flames in the fireplace. Her lips twitched and tingled as if they had been kissed.

In the hallway Damon felt Alaric's eyes on him. "What?" he barked and grabbed his leather jacket off the coat rack.

Alaric held up his hands. "Nothing, just that you and Bonnie looked a little cozy."

Damon didn't comment. Merely slipped on his jacket, grabbed his keys, and opened the door.

"Whatever you're thinking, Damon, don't."

The immortal stopped on the balls of his feet while attempting to leave the house. "Excuse me."

Alaric knew that tone well. It was a tone spoken in finality and meant certain death if you defied the edict and proceeded with another order.

Alaric licked his lips. "She's…Bonnie," he hedged as if that explained everything.

"I know exactly who she is. It's kind of hard to forget. Now are we going to go solve a murder, or are you going to stand there and try to dictate my life? You should know by now that I don't _like _being told what to do."

Damon's eyes turned mercury for a second. Alaric hadn't seen that happen since the night of the bachelor auction and he showed up at the boardinghouse with his trusty stake in hand ready to take Damon out. Things didn't go as planned.

Seeing that his "friend" was backing off, Damon flashed a here-and-gone smile and left the building. He got his point across.

**Crosse Pointe Park was **marked off with yellow police tape by the time the Mystic Falls Avengers showed up. They didn't need to flash ID as they strode towards the crime scene. Sheriff Forbes was there barking out orders and directing her men on the protocols that followed once a 187 had been called in. Damon was ready for his briefing, but then he saw something more to the matter _someone _who was out of place and shouldn't be here.

He frowned.

"What the hell is he doing here?" he asked incredulously.

Liz spun around to face Damon and then looked towards the direction in which he was glaring. She sighed heavily.

"He said he was passing by and offered up his assistance. I couldn't exactly tell him no."

Damon shook his head, folded his arms, and penetrated Liz right down to her soul. "Do I need to make a formal complaint about shoddy police work, Liz?"

The woman in question nostrils flared. "Because you're head of the council is the _only _reason you're here, Damon. Otherwise you wouldn't be," she reminded him tersely. It was bad enough that outside influences didn't want to adhere to the chain of command and everyone felt it was their personal right to call the shots: the mayor, Damon, the Mikaelson's, and on occasion Alaric. She was the one with the badge and the gun got damnit.

"I called you down here as a favor not to take over the investigation. You don't like how things are run," Liz hunched her shoulder, "well that's just too damn bad."

"Let's all try to remain objective here," Alaric said to diffuse the situation.

"What happened?" Damon bit out through clenched teeth, feeling several levels of annoyed.

Liz reluctantly filled him and Alaric in. "The victim is twenty-two year old Catlin Donaldson. She's an intern at the medical examiner's office, I should say was. She was found by a jogger. Shot three times in the chest—the heart specifically, and once in the head. Just like the EMT and hospice nurse we found last week."

Damon walked over to the tarp covering the body. He lifted the makeshift shroud, face grim. "Someone is targeting people in the medical field. That goes without saying. You think someone is covering their tracks to hide the fact that a blood trafficking conspiracy might be going on?"

Liz shrugged. "Anything is possible at this point. So far we haven't found anything to connect the murders of the EMT and hospice nurse. All we do know definitively is that we have an unidentified vampire blood dealer, and bodies that keep popping up. If they were apart of that scenario…they've done a wonderful job of hiding any proof of their involvement."

"Did you find any bullet casings this time?" Alaric questioned.

Liz shook her head. "Not yet, but we're still looking. We could use your vampire vision right about now, Damon."

Resting on his haunches some twenty-five feet away Kol Mikaelson smirked at Damon over his shoulder before returning his auburn eyes to the disturbed ground that was in front of him.

They were looking for bullet casings? Well Kol was sure they wouldn't find what they were looking for. But he did.

His jaws clamped down tightly as he picked up the small wooden object, which immediately burned his fingertips. Reaching inside his pocket he pulled out a handkerchief and picked up the bullet engraved with special markings and quickly deposited it in his pocket. He stood to his feet and wiped his hands along his designer jeans.

He approached the trinity. "Sorry to have been a bother but I didn't find anything of importance," he said to Liz.

"Thank you for lending your help, Kol," Liz attempted a smile but it came off as more of a grimace.

Inclining his head contritely Kol vanished but not without winking at Damon.

**Klaus Mikaelson picked up his **car keys about to troll the night, looking for a quick snack and perhaps a chance run-in with Caroline Forbes. Unfortunately he collided with his younger brother at the door..

"Imprudent much," Klaus wiped imaginary dirt off the front of his leather jacket. "What's your hurry?"

Klaus noticed that there was an excitability about his brother that had been absent, well since the Dark Ages.

Naturally Kol wanted to extend the drama by not answering right away. "I should be asking that question of you. If you're hoping to get your Caroline fix for the day I must report she is working on a group project at one of her classmate's home."

"And you know this how?" Klaus asked evenly and hoped that he wasn't illustrating how…disappointed he was to hear that Caroline was not at the usual watering hole of this town.

"How do you know any of the things you know? You plant a mole. But if I were you I would postpone your little rendezvous because a big problem just landed in our lap," Kol extracted the bundle out of his pocket containing the confiscated bullet from the crime scene. He passed it over to his older brother.

Unfolding the handkerchief Klaus' vermillion lips shriveled into a hard line as he studied the intricate symbols that had been carved, seemingly burned into the bullet.

"The Brotherhood of the Five. Fantastic," he muttered sarcastically. Welp so much for getting that drink, Klaus thought. His already overly complicated life just got so much more…interesting.

**The only girl he watched** sleep had been Elena. And that had been at the time he wanted everyone to believe there wasn't a shred of humanity left in him. Damon could write an anthology on all the things he missed about being mortal, but what would be the point? He couldn't go back and he couldn't change who he was. Besides, he liked himself just fine.

But it wasn't until he met Elena that he began to question what it was people saw when they looked at him. Did they see a devilishly handsome devil? A manipulator? Liar? Killer? Misguided soul? Worthy?

He scoffed because he had no earthly idea why he was thinking along those lines. He had a serial killer on his hands that he needed to track down and catch. He didn't have time for self-introspection. He didn't have time to be looming over a girl who not so long ago detested the very sight of him.

Yet Bonnie had been dominating his thoughts as of late, and Damon was determined to find out why.

He stood next to the couch gazing down on her while she slept. His fingers twitched and the next thing Damon knew, he was pushing some of Bonnie's hair off her face. He meant to pick her up and carry her to bed since it was so late at night, but that's not what happened. Stupid, clichéd move that it was, nevertheless, he couldn't stop his finger from brushing across her cheek. Reveling in her soft skin. Instinctively knowing that the rest of her was just as soft.

Bonnie's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. Yep, Damon thought he was about to be engulfed in flames.

Instead he was tugged down…

Chapter end.

**A/N: I'm going to use the hunter storyline for the subplot, but I won't be delving into the cure and all of that. I promise it won't overshadow Bamon and what I have planned for them. I would like to go a little bit into the fact that Damon protected Emily's line since that was barely delved into on the show. Because in my humble opinion, I really think those two were just fated to be together in some form or fashion so we're going to make it happen. There's lovely smexy time coming up, and exactly who is Nero and what kind of role will he be playing in Mystic Falls, and who's really responsible for all those murders? Stay tuned. Love you guys and thanks for reading! **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hello, kitchens. Here is the latest. I'm glad you all loved the last chapter and thank you so much for the reviews! Enjoy! **

***Special note for this chapter* The bold and italicized parts symbolize Bonnie dreaming. **

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement intended.

**He was in hell. **There was a package between his legs that he _desperately _wanted to deliver but couldn't. Not because he didn't _want _to—yes he did thank you very much! But because he _feared _to.

_**She arched her back, as her nails dug into her thighs. Sleep had been elusive which wasn't all that surprising especially when it felt like she was holding a bubbling caldron between her legs. There was the sweet agony of knowing that she could ease her ache with her knowledgeable fingers but doing so came at a risk, a hefty price Bonnie was unsure she wanted to pay right now. The temptation was great, the investment would produce dividends the likes which she hadn't seen in ages it felt.**_

Kneeling on the carpet next to the couch Damon couldn't decide if this were a blessing or a curse what was taking place. He was never much of an optimist, but this one time Damon could concede he was pretty lucky to be right here in this moment, right here in this room, a room that it had its fair share of secrets.

Now it was learning another one.

_**Her belly quivered as she tried to hold on to the image burned into her mind like hot iron touching skin. Skin as white as milk loomed over her, lips as red as a rose petal hovered temptingly over her ripened flesh, that sinister smirk was locked into place.**_

_**Accordingly she writhed against the bed. Quick, short pants escaped between her lips that she repeatedly bit into drawing and trapping blood until said lips increased in sized and plead for mercy. Yet she wasn't exactly feeling merciful. **_

At present, Damon could do nothing but tighten his unoccupied hand into a fist as he allowed the half-conscious girl to stimulate herself with his right. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip dying, actually literally dying to know what she tasted like. His eyes were riveted on Bonnie, and somewhere vaguely in the back of his mind he knew he should put a stop to this. That was the right thing to do, right?

Yet his attention was split between doing the right thing and letting this story unfold.

Bonnie's brows were knitted together in concentration as she continually prodded his fingers to delve deeper inside her.

_**Her hand slipped into her panties like a long forgotten lover returning home. A silent invasion. Her nerve endings were practically waving their hands in jubilation at the stimulation that had been pretty much wiped extinct, made obsolete. Her legs stretched farther apart against the cool sheets as she pushed just a little deeper, not yet circling that special hive of nerves, not wanting things to end too quickly, come too fast making her frustration flare anew. She learned her body in that special ritual that could be deemed as taboo for a girl her age to indulge in, but she needed this like a Popsicle on a muggy July afternoon.**_

Farther apart Bonnie's legs spread until her left was dangling off the edge of the couch. The heady scent of her arousal snaked up Damon's nose and his fangs spontaneously erupted from his gums. That had _never _happened before.

"Bonnie…?"

_**Bonnie ran her finger along her slit opening her folds just a bit, feeling her wetness coat her digit. She needed more than this naturally, but this would have to suffice.**_

He couldn't get the rest of his words out because Bonnie slipped his middle finger in her. His eyes bugged out and his fang sliced his lip. She felt like liquid silk. As a result his cock felt like it was about to torpedo out of his pants.

_**With one hand lodged in her underwear, the other traveled north and gripped her heaving mound. A gasp whistled through the air when the palm of her hand scraped against her swelling nipple. It rose like yeast in a hot oven. **_

Damon wanted to replace his finger with his dick, but this was Bonnie and she was half-conscious. He tried to remove his finger from her tight sheath, but she trapped his hand between her thighs and began to undulate her hips to work his finger in and out. Well, he wasn't one to disappoint a maiden so he worked his finger.

Some vague part of his honor said this was wrong, he was taking advantage of her, however, she started it. His defense might sound elementary but it was the truth. Damon had been minding his business when Bonnie shoved his finger up there. There was little he could do about this now, but to finish her off. And maybe, if he were lucky, she might reciprocate.

_**Her fingers worked, slow at first, starting the pace like a writer sitting down to describe the opening scene of a brand new novella, and then increased like a sketch artist erasing a portrait.**_

She moaned a soft sound before it turned guttural and she arched her back off the couch. Was she finally awake?

"Shit, shit, shit, shit," she muttered softly and Damon wholeheartedly agreed because if she felt this amazing and her walls were only squeezing the heck out of his finger he could only imagine how she'd feel on his dick.

"Bonnie?" he said with more bass in his voice, though it was hard to concentrate at the moment.

"Don't stop,_ please," _her eyes were squeezed tight.

He wasn't going to stop but he wanted to make sure she knew this was happening.

_**Fast. Slow. Faster. Harder. Deeper. Light. Over and over Bonnie repeated the process until her eyes burst open. She quickly stuffed her pillow in her mouth to stifle the auditory proof of her orgasm. **_

Her body tensed and he slipped another finger inside. Her mouth opened and she let out a long, loud groan before becoming shockingly still.

She sighed happily.

Bonnie's eyes fluttered open and she stared up at the ceiling in confusion for a second. She looked down at her body and saw a pale white hand lodged between her thighs. Her eyes flew up to the owner in surprise.

Her heart burst out of her chest and ran around the corner taking her guts and wits with it.

Neither one of them moved although both of them were breathing rapidly.

Damon said nothing, only extracted his fingers, marveling at the glaze coating them, and boldly licked his digits clean.

She was paralyzed, utterly paralyzed. Bonnie had never seen anyone do something so-so-so erotic before! At least not with her in the room. Shamefully another gush of liquid began to moisten her inner thighs.

She scrambled to her feet and hastily pulled her night gown over her hips. Blood rushed to her face and she found it hard to make eye contact with him.

"Please, please, please be dreaming," she whispered to herself.

Slowly Damon got to his feet, "Is it my turn now?" he asked.

Blue eyes burned her intensely that it made Bonnie feel like she landed feet first into a volcano about to erupt. She was trapped in an impossible situation that had two outcomes—one she wanted more than anything, and the other would have hurt like a knife through the chest. To walk away when she was so close to having her goal, but it would be far too simplistic to get Damon to bury his impressive shaft in her.

However, Lucy was right, Damon was a man-whore. Sleeping with him would take no effort and Bonnie certainly was looking for more than a fun time between the sheets. Besides there'd be no guarantee Damon would look at her any differently.

He waited impatiently for her to respond to his question. Was it his turn next? Bonnie gulped, licked her lips and begged her heart to obey her command not to beat faster than what it was right now.

_Think, Bonnie, Think._

Bonnie took a step away her eyes darting between him and the exit. She'd never make it, she knew that much. Damon could feasibly have her back pressed up against the nearest wall and her dress off in two seconds. Heat sliced through her again at the mental visualization.

Focus.

There was no _way _he was going to let her get out of this room. Not after tasting her, not after touching her. Bonnie looked like a frightened bird trying to escape the soaring hawk that was about to turn her into a meal. Oh, yeah he was going to eat and she was going to let him.

It was hard to miss the determination lining his eyes. Bonnie knew Damon prided himself on his virility and prowess and figured the only way to get out of this with her plan fully intact was to chip away at that, and insert doubt about his abilities.

She folded her arms over her chest. "I would return the favor if I actually came."

The lust in Damon vanished like a needle scratching over a vinyl record. "What?"

Bonnie took a deep breath. "Did I float?"

Confusion knitted Damon's eyebrows together. "You do that?"

"Answer the question."

He looked reluctant to answer yet did. "No."

"Did the lights flicker?"

Uncertainty merged with his confusion. "No."

Bonnie walked around the far side of the couch, placing the object between them. He tracked her movement with his eyes. "Did I shout obscenities at the ceiling? Did I electrocute you?"

The tick chiseling away at his jaw answered those two questions. Bonnie allowed her eyes to dip to the apex of his thighs where his bulge was a little less prominent than it had been before. She was almost out of the woods now she just had to drive the final nail in the coffin—so to speak.

"You put all those things together, Damon and it equals to the fact I did not have an orgasm. I mean how could I? I barely felt anything."

His eyes became like chips of ice and began to shoot daggers at her. "You're lying," he growled. Damon moved with lightning quickness and stood less than a foot away from Bonnie glowering at her. "Sure those things might have not have happened, but your twat clutched my fingers until it nearly snapped them off."

Bonnie's eyes enlarged.

"I've been listening to your heart beat and to your arteries Bonnie, especially the femoral and it's been fluttering like the wings of a nightingale, and you want to know what that tells me, you came, you're still coming," he traced his bottom lip with his tongue and raked his eyes over her. "You want me to touch you. You want me to run my tongue and teeth over your nipples, you want me to suck on your clit. Just admit it and I'll do all of that and more to you. No one will have to know."

The synapses in her brain were malfunctioning and Bonnie's toes curled against the hardwood floor. She was seconds from exploding again just from his suggestive words.

By this point Bonnie hadn't realized that the whole time Damon had been talking he had effectively trapped her between his chest and the wall. The exit was less than two feet from her. All she'd have to do was take a step, round the corner and she'd be free. But she couldn't because Damon's eyes were holding her prisoner and she didn't want to stage a jail break. She wanted him to do all he said he would do, and yes she wanted more, however, this wasn't about sex.

It was so very difficult to remember that at a time like this. Especially not when her body had been plucked like a violin string only minutes ago.

Damon dipped his head. His lips brushed against the shell of her ear. His scent rushed up her nose, flooding her lungs. It was becoming painful to breathe.

Bonnie attempted to respond to his claim, yet at first no words could come out. She cleared her throat, "So I'm supposed to be your dirty little secret?" Bonnie challenged. "Your whore?"

Damon blinked and took a step back. "No."

She had him on the offensive now. "I'm not the type to engage in a one night stand."

"I know that. This doesn't have to be a one night thing," he infiltrated her personal space again and gently pressed his cool lips against her ear.

Bonnie jumped as she felt electricity zap through her. She braced her hand between them, sliding her appendage over his sculpted pectoral and pushed him back.

"I'm not interested in being another notch on your belt, no matter how long things go on. Good night, Damon."

She made a move to leave, but Damon shot out an arm barring the way. "We should give this a try."

"Why? Because you have an erection? Pfft, you have hands. I suggest you use them."

His smirk was dangerous. "Just like I used them on you? Now there's something you can't take back."

"You're right, I can't take it back, but I can assure you it won't happen again. It was a mistake," Bonnie said with conviction and was proud of herself for the bold-faced lie she just told.

However, Damon still didn't look convinced by her spiel. "I'm no fortune teller, Bonnie, but I foresee the two of us rolling around on my bed, sweaty, sticky, with Damon Jr. buried in your hot, tight snatch. There's no point in denying the inevitable. You get what I'm laying down?" he poked her in the boob.

Bonnie slapped his hand away and glared up at him. "There's no way I'd let you get far enough to accomplish any of those filthy things you just said, Damon. Now step off."

Damon held her exigent gaze for a moment. That urge within him to chase after something like a dog running after a car was stirring within him. Bonnie thought that she wouldn't succumb to his charm, but she would. Maybe not tonight, but she would because they all do eventually, and she would be eating crow because of it. She'd have to be severely mentally impaired not to notice the sexual chemistry firing between them. Damon hadn't wanted to fuck a woman so bad since he first met Katherine. All of this should have drawn him up short but it didn't. He had never backed down from a good challenge a day in his life and he certainly wouldn't start now. Bonnie would float off the bed, she'd make the lights flicker—matter of fact she'll detonate the city's energy grid and it would be because of him.

Damon removed his arm from the wall and allowed Bonnie to slither away.

Bonnie ran a hand down the length of her neck, grabbed the stair railing and ascended the stairs nearly breaking into a run to her room.

Once she was inside, she turned the lock and rolled her eyes. A lock wouldn't keep Damon out. All he'd have to do was break the lock with one hard twist and volia he'd be inside her room and two seconds later he'd be inside of her. Closing her eyes, Bonnie recited the spell that would keep all unwanted occupants out.

It was time for a cold shower.

**An hour **later Damon lied in bed with his arms folded behind his head. He listened to the sounds of the house, the interesting creaks and groans it made. He listened to his brother's breathing and mumbling, and then he finely tuned his hearing to Bonnie's room. She had rolled over in bed, breathing lightly. She was fast asleep.

Decision made he threw his bed sheet off and made his way to her side of the house. Patience was not his strong suit. Although he had brushed his teeth before climbing into bed he could still taste Bonnie's essence on his tongue. _God, that woman is intoxicating_, he thought as he crept down the hall and stood in front of her door. He smirked almost evilly as he reached for the doorknob. Damon promised himself he wouldn't do more than eat her out. He'd get her so wound up and then…he'd just walk out of the room denying her the one thing she claimed he failed to deliver. That would teach her.

His hand drew closer to the object and then, crashed against an invisible barrier. He growled. "What the hell?" Undeterred, Damon simply tried to open the door by trying another spot on the door, and the same thing happened. "Clever little, _witch._"

Damon studied the door for a second and being a somewhat glutton for punishment, he attempted to kick it down, but only mounted to hurting himself in the process.

Groaning, Damon nearly whimpered as he made his way back to his own room where he slammed the door shut.

**It was a scene **straight out of the Godfather. Four pale figures moved into the room like a graceful unit towards the table perched underneath a vintage Venetian chandelier dating back to the mid-eighteen century. The rest of the room was left spartan with only a few objects here and there. The occupants pulled out Louis XVI chairs and sat down.

They were silent for a while, more to the matter they waited for the one who called this little meeting to open up the dialogue.

Klaus reached into his back pocket and retrieved the bullet Kol pilfered from the murder scene of the latest Mystic Falls tragedy. He placed it in the center of the table allowing his other two siblings to have a look.

Elijah pulled his lips back from his teeth but otherwise said nothing. Yet he didn't need to say anything because his face said it all.

Rebekah drew in a little breath as she stared at the small piece of wood, but more to the matter her cornflower blue eyes were fixated on the markings. She knew that symbol, almost intimately. A myriad of emotions and memories began to pummel her taking her back to a time, to a world where she would have wedded and bedded the man she loved had he not betrayed her. Her nostrils flared slightly and she narrowed her eyes at her eldest brother.

Klaus invariably wore a serious expression on his face. Today was no different. Kol simply looked amused. Hardly anything ever troubled or worried him.

"Where did you get that?" Rebekah queried.

"I'll let Kol do the honors of telling how that came to be in our possession."

Clearing his throat and scooting his chair but a hair closer to the table, Kol rested his elbows on the table. "I was…searching for a dinner companion," he smiled guilelessly, "and had just passed the park when I heard shots being fired. By the time I reached the site, the assailant had gone. All that was left was the body of a young woman. She was barely alive."

"Did you feed on her?" Elijah's tone was accusatory.

Kol looked offended. "You know that isn't my style, Elijah. I like the chase. I _enjoy _it. Only vultures eat the crumbs of a kill. But as I was saying, the woman laid there clinging to life. A bystander phoned the police and I concealed myself until the authorities arrived. Naturally I offered up my assistance and came across that little treasure right there," he pointed at the bullet.

"Why would you even bother to stick around?" Rebekah shook her head. She knew her brother. Knew that Kol was deviant. He was no civil servant. He cared nothing for humans aside from the blood that flowed through their veins. He must have sensed something was off, or he got a look at the shooter and recognized him as a hunter. That could be the only reasonable explanation.

"Because it's my prerogative, Rebekah. Why does the sun fucking rise in the east? I just simply do things."

"You saw no one?" Elijah cross examined.

Kol looked at the brother he resembled the most. His remaining three siblings might try to deny being related to him, but Elijah couldn't.

"No," Kol deadpanned.

Rebekah sat up a little straighter. "So what are we to do? Scattered to the ends of the earth once again? I'm tired of running. This is our home and we have as much right to it as anyone else. None of us asked to become vampires. It's the same shit century after century. Even our own mother wants us dead."

There was silent agreement around the table; however Klaus was already thinking three steps ahead. If the Brotherhood of The Five was still in existence today some eight centuries later this could spell big trouble for them, well for his siblings he should amend. He was virtually invincible. The fact of the matter was they were all bound. If one was killed they'd all die although Klaus would suffer nothing more than a little acid reflux. But still knowing they were once again being hunted and their lives were connected made the situation even more perilous. He had to unbind them. Now!

With his mother and Finn off in hiding until she formulated a new plan to kill them they were virtually sitting ducks.

He had asked Kol to keep an eye out for Bonnie Bennett, but Klaus was about to take matters into his own hands. He needed to push his agenda and his brother simply wasn't working fast enough.

"The first thing we should do," Klaus said, "is find out if we really are dealing with The Five. Elijah I'll leave that up to you. You've always been resourceful in sniffing out information like a loyal bloodhound," he smirked.

Elijah grimaced at him.

"Kol and Rebekah find out all you can about the other murders. Perhaps some evidence has been collected that has left Mystic Falls' finest scratching their heads, and this evidence may in fact prove to be of some use to us."

"And what are you to do, Niklaus?" Elijah narrowed his chocolate eyes.

Klaus hunched his shoulder. "Seduce a witch of course."

And that didn't sit well with Kol. Not. At. All.

**Damon would not admit **that the reason he was parked across the street from Mystic Falls High at exactly 2:45 p.m had anything to do with fingering Bonnie a few nights ago. And she had been elusive since then. Always about to head out the door to do something school related. Always put up that stupid block on her door that he couldn't penetrate. Nope, his mounting frustration wasn't the reason at all for his visit.

His phone vibrated against his leg again. He spied who the caller was, sighed, and sent the call straight to voicemail. Liz had been stalking him all morning. Apparently one of her deputies was missing, hadn't reported to work in the last two days, and she wanted him to head up the search party. Damon couldn't compel himself to care. To him the less law enforcement to deal with the more anarchy he could cause. Not like he caused any problems lately.

_When have I become such a loser, _he lamented. The last person he had sex with was Rebekah, and though she had been fierce and powerful, she made such disturbing sex faces, that their one night together was just that, a single night. But their encounter was months ago and since then pickings had been slim.

What he really should do is pack up enough clothes to last him two weeks in Europe. He should strut down red carpets with the hottest models in the business strapped to each arm before slinking away to some overpriced hotel and draining them dry. Then he'd go down the list of people he still held a grudge against and turn their lives into a living hell.

Those were all good reasons to split town while things were quiet—so to speak. Yes, there was still a serial killer taunting them. He really could careless about that. If Liz couldn't crack this case with the resources she had then she might as well turn in her badge now. And really he should be charging for his services. The Joker was right, if you're good at something _never_ do it for free.

What he was good at was putting fear into young girls' hearts. True Bonnie had stopped being afraid of him a long time ago. He couldn't intimidate her by crowding her space or threatening to snap her neck, or drain her dry. Those were hollow threats because she knew he wouldn't dare do it. Not because he feared retribution but because at the end of the day he needed her.

And it went without saying he hated needing someone. People could never measure up, or deliver on their promises. Damon had learned that lesson when he was still human. And being a vampire he certainly wasn't impressed with their lack of fortitude.

So no, he might not be able to scare Bonnie, but he could do other things. He could turn her into his sex slave like he did with Andie. The only snag to that plan was she couldn't be compelled. Drat. There was no one around he could threaten to get her to comply either. Shit! In order to get Bonnie to fear him he might have to take the road less traveled and be...dare he say it…nice to her.

Gah! He shuddered at the thought.

She tried to hurt his feelings the other night by implying he could never get her to cum. Whatever. He was Damon I-Will-Fuck-You-Into-A-Wheelchair Salvatore. A hundred percent satisfaction guaranteed. That was his motto.

But no, Bonnie seemed to be content letting Stefan kiss her and touch her booty, and hanging all over Mutt and accepting trinkets from him, and giving the moon faced Gilbert boy the cold shoulder. What about him? What does he get? He got to feel her up for all of two minutes and was denied further access to the cookies.

This just would not do. Bonnie would be writhing under him by the next full moon, clawing his back, and letting him bite her. And you could take that check all the way to the bank.

Yet…

It would probably serve in his best interest just to take an L for the team and let this go. He and Bonnie shared a wild, once-in-a-lifetime experience and they should just leave it at that. He didn't do relationships or reformation. He wasn't going to change who he was in order to fit into someone's life. Been there and tried that and still didn't get the girl. No siree he was finished.

But that didn't mean he still couldn't have fun.

The doors to the school burst apart like it had been napalmed. Noisy teenagers spilled out into the parking lot flooding it like a swarm of locusts. Damon sat up a bit straighter when he spotted Bonnie coming out of the building, clutching her books to her chest. She was walking a little ahead of Caroline and Elena in an arrowhead formation, but she turned to stare at her friends over her shoulder. Caroline was regaling them with some apparently funny story about squirrels and Sloppy Joe. Damon didn't even bother to catch the punch line to that story. He kept his eyes planted on Bonnie.

She really did have a beautiful smile. It was a bit startling that he could fit on one hand the number of times he saw Bonnie smile to the point where he saw teeth.

He did recall the one and only time she snorted at him. They had just finished dancing at the 60's dance and he was doing his thing between the fake Supremes. Bonnie had been watching him and she snorted and smirked. That was probably the only time she didn't look at him by default or as if she'd rather be dealing with anyone else in the world than him.

Their relationship had shifted that night. They were able to put their mutual bias for each other aside and come up with a flawless plan to fake out Klaus. It worked beautifully mainly because he concocted the whole operation.

Without his permission he replayed that conversation.

_He had just ordered Elena to go find Stefan. It was just him and Bonnie standing in the silent hallway._

_Bonnie told him that Klaus was possessing Alaric's body and if she killed Alaric he'd only posses someone else. So that meant, unfortunately, Klaus wouldn't be murdered tonight. But Bonnie reassured him she was willing to do whatever was necessary to keep Elena alive. _

_Together they made their way to the parking lot. Bonnie retrieved her grimoire from the backseat of Jeremy's car and flipped through the pages. "I don't know what I'm looking for," her fingers were beginning to shake. _

"_Emily faked her death once in an attempt to escape Katherine. Katherine had sent men to go and retrieve her, but I found her first, thinking I'd get brownie points. But she woke up before I could make it back to Katherine. That spell should be in there," Damon told her._

_Bonnie licked her lips and flipped, flipped, and flipped and finally came across it. She nearly cried out in glee, read over the necessary words committing them to memory. Once she was done, she carefully placed the book back in the car, and faced Damon._

_Determined and fearless green eyes bored into his. "I'm ready."_

"_Are you sure?" he asked. Essentially what she was doing was dangerous and there were always consequences attached to everything. The spell might be _too _effective and she might not wake up at all. "You need to let me know now or I will rip Alaric's heart from his chest."_

"_I'm sure, Damon, and we're wasting time."_

_He searched her eyes one final time and then took her by the hand. Using his vampire speed they were back in the hallway where her altercation with Klaus-Alaric took place. Bonnie took a few steps down the hall, stopped, and looked at him. He nodded his head and then vanished. _

The next time he saw her she was sprawled out on the cafeteria floor, her eyes wide open and unfocused. Although he knew it was part of the plan, it was still unsettling seeing Bonnie like that. And it was also the first time he realized he _did _care about her in his own little way.

But then some would negate that realization based on what he said to Elena hours later. What could he say? He said a lot of things he didn't mean. You have to watch his actions, not his words.

Damon snapped himself out of his reverie and saw Bonnie climb into the passenger seat of Caroline's Fiesta. They were about to head over to the Grille. Cranking his engine, he dutifully followed.

**Bonnie pushed her empty **plate away from her. Dodging an immortal was beginning to wear her out. Since the "incident" Bonnie had worked overtime not to be alone with Damon. So far things were working in her favor, but she knew the reprieve wouldn't last for too long. For right now, her plan of attack was to act as aloof as possible. To behave as if his nearness didn't incinerate her will, turn her bones into jelly. She wouldn't yield to him. She couldn't.

Slurping up the last bit of her soda, Bonnie laughed at Caroline and then her eyes wondered over to the entrance. Her eyes widened slightly when she noticed the guy who strolled into the establishment. She had only seen his face once, on the night she tried to kill him, and there was no forgetting what he looked like. His dark blue eyes scanned the crowd looking for the usual suspects, Bonnie figured. His blood red lips stretched into a jovial smile as he headed over to the bar.

Elena took notice of the fact Bonnie was distracted. She looked over the back of the booth and her eyes crashed into Klaus.

"Do you remember who that is?" she asked Bonnie.

The girl in question nodded her head. Bonnie picked up her empty glass but then her eyes trailed over to Caroline who visually tensed. Yeah, Bonnie knew about Klaus' lame attempts at trying to court her.

"I think I'm going to go get a refill," and she slid out of the booth and marched up to Klaus.

Caroline snapped her head to Elena, alarm written all over her face. "What is she doing?"

Elena could do nothing but shake her head. Her eyes went to the other side of the restaurant where she spotted Stefan and Damon who had their eyes planted on Klaus.

Bonnie saddled up next to Klaus and placed her empty glass on the bar top. "Hi, can I get a refill? Ginger ale, please," she asked the bartender.

Klaus tried not to smile too much. Sometimes things just had a tendency to fall right into his lap. "I don't think we've formally been introduced," he said.

"You're Niklaus," she retorted and thanked the bartender when her refill was placed in front of her.

"And you're Bonnie Bennett the witch who tried to kill me."

She held up her glass in salute before taking a sip.

Spurned on by the fact Bonnie appeared to have no fear of him, Klaus turned his body towards her. "I heard you were…indisposed for the last few months," he spoke conversationally. "Are you looking to get back in the business of trying to kill me? I should warn you, you'd be wasting your time."

Bonnie shook her head. "Klaus I have no interest in killing you. You got what you wanted. Now I hear you're a wannabe Casanova who finger paints. Ooh, so scary," she rolled her eyes.

Damon nearly spat his drink out in the middle of chuckling.

Something dangerous flashed in the Original's eyes. "I'd be very careful if I were you. You're still human, still breakable."

Again she rolled her eyes. "Blah, blah, blah I've been threatened by some of the best in the business," she purposely looked at Damon and pointed at him. "See there goes one of my attempted murders over there," she waved. Damon threw up the peace sign. "And I paid him back," she looked up at Klaus. "I'm sure you know what a burning vampire smells like. Sulfur, ammonia, skunk pee, not a good combination."

Klaus was flabbergasted by her brashness. And a little…intrigued.

"I've had dreams about The Smurfs that were scarier than you," Bonnie went on to say.

Fury danced across his face before miraculously it melted into amusement. He chuckled. No one had dared to speak to him with such insolence—other than Stefan and his brother on occasion, but the women of this town always addressed him with some form of reverence. But not Bonnie.

He picked up her hand. "Be careful, Miss Bennett…I might just ask you to dinner."

Bonnie slipped her hand from his. "Just name the time and the place and I won't be there," she attempted to walk off but Klaus detained her by grabbing her wrist. Bonnie hitched an eyebrow in the air.

"What's your rush, love? I thought we were getting acquainted. It's not everyday two natural enemies can share a drink and a civil conversation. You should know I have a special fondness for witches."

"Is that before or after you eat them?" Bonnie questioned, to which she was being serious.

Klaus' grin was dangerous. "I have nothing but the highest regard for witches. I've been in league with them for…forget the exact number of years, but my knowledge is _very _thorough and lengthy if you catch my meaning," his navy blue eyes widened theatrically.

"Are you…are you flirting with me?"

"If you can't tell then that must mean I'm rusty. Please, allow me the opportunity to practice on you shall we meet up again. Here's my number," Klaus produced his calling card and handed it over to Bonnie. "You never know, you might find yourself needing my help one day."

She hesitated before taking it. "I doubt that," Bonnie remarked before flicking her hand to which the card instantly disappeared in a quick slight of hand. "Enjoy your drink."

Klaus a little impressed by the trick chuckled softly as she walked away.

Elena and Caroline stared at Bonnie in awe and like she was crazy. Instead of heading back over to her friends, she instead went to the dart board.

Damon had listened to their entire exchange and didn't know what to make of it. Part of him wondered if Bonnie was so naïve and thirsty for attention that she would mistake Klaus' obvious manipulation for sincerity. That would make _two _Mikaelson's who apparently caught Bonnie's scent, and the investigator inside of Damon wanted to know why. They weren't social people who went out of their way to make friends and have a night out on the town. The Mikaelson's, every single last one of them were users, and Damon was going to find out what they wanted with Bonnie.

Back at the dart board, Bonnie frowned when the dart she attempted to throw didn't land where she wanted it to go.

"It's all in your wrist," Stefan advised. He extracted the dart from the board, approached Bonnie and demonstrated the proper way to hold the instrument and how to throw it. Once he released it, it struck the bullseye.

Bonnie tried to emulate what Stefan did, held the dart appropriately and released it, and it still somehow got imbedded in the wall beside the board. "I suck at this."

"Yes you do," he said unsympathetically but then moved until he stood behind her. Stefan picked up her right hand, and positioned the dart between her little fingers.

From across the room Damon watched their interaction with pursed lips. He tossed back his drink only to discover the glass was empty. Elena saddled up next to him, her eyes on the couple at the dart board.

"They sure look cozy," she remarked.

Damon grinned. "Jealous?"

Much to his astonishment Elena shook her head. "They haven't spent much time together…and they were…friends before."

"First of all they were never all that tight. You can be honest with me, Elena and cut the nobility crap. It bothers you to see Stefan give your BFF attention. It's understandable."

"And it's understandable that you'd want me to be jealous. But I'm not going to march over there and start scratching out eyes and pulling out hair. Bonnie's been through a horrible ordeal and if she wants to spend time with Stefan she can."

"How generous of you," Damon snorted. And then looked at her drolly. "What about kissing him? Can she do that?"

Elena tensed for a second and tried to recover before Damon picked up on it. Unfortunately she wasn't fast enough. "He only kissed her because he won a stupid game."

"Yeah, tell yourself that so you can sleep better at night," he baited her.

"I'm not worried about something building between them because…it wasn't Stefan's bed Bonnie crawled out of not that long ago."

Damon cocked his head curiously. "You know what, that's the most intelligent thing you've said since coming over here, E. Thanks for reminding me of that fact."

Stefan saw his brother approaching. "Uh-oh here comes trouble."

Bonnie gave Damon her undivided attention for all of three seconds before turning back to the game.

"Got room for one more player?"

Bonnie sighed and then handed Damon her darts. "You can take my spot. I was just about to go and talk to Matt." And thankfully she spotted her friend tying his apron around his waist after having clocked in to start his shift.

"Matt!" Bonnie called and practically jogged over to him. Damon stared at her, nostrils flaring.

"Did I contract Anthrax or something?" he asked his brother who was busy covering up his chuckles with a closed fist.

The lunch crowd morphed into the dinner crowd and the restaurant was practically bursting with people. Music flowed from the jukebox and Bonnie twirled strands of hair around her fingers. Two couples had turned a small space about the size of a postage stamp into a makeshift dance floor. The Grill wasn't known for its entertainment. A while back they offered local bands the opportunity to come and perform but once the restaurant caught fire—pretty much killed future musical performances.

Caroline collected her bag and retrieved her keys from her purse. "I need to head home, guys. "

Elena slurped her drink and then checked the time on her cell. It was drawing close to eight. It was a little boggling they had been inside the place for the last five hours.

"Jeremy's here so I'll get a ride home with him," she told Caroline.

"Bonnie, you coming?" Caroline asked.

Bonnie stared up at her friend. She figured she had ignored—correction—avoided Damon enough for the night. "No, I think I'll ask Damon to give me a ride back to the boardinghouse."

Caroline said nothing although she very much wanted to. Instead she gave each of her friends a hug and promised to text them to let them know she made it home in one piece.

Just as Bonnie was about to get up from the table, Elena caught her by the arm. "Bon?"

Inwardly, Bonnie sighed. She so wasn't in the mood to have another heart-to-heart or guilt trip she should say. Yet she slapped a placatory smile on her face.

"Have you thought about what Jeremy asked you? About moving in with us. Speaking from experience being the only female living at the boardinghouse can be a little…different," Elena snorted good-naturedly.

Sliding back into the booth and staring at her friend, Bonnie thought it was time to get some answers to some long awaited questions. She made a steeple of her fingers and rested them on top of the table.

"Elena, I know you had written in the chronicle that you let both Damon and Stefan go…did you really?"

The raven-haired girl looked flabbergasted by the question. "Yes, of course I let them go. Things were so crazy back then that I couldn't stand around and-and watch Stefan and Damon tear each other a part. It wasn't easy, and I didn't want to let either of them go, but I knew I had to. It was the only right thing to do. But that has nothing to do with you living there so I'm not seeing the connection."

"Does it bother you that I want to stay there?"

Elena looked uncertain for a moment. "No, not really."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Elena's smile was a little incredulous that Bonnie had to question her feelings on this.

Looking her friend deep in the eye, Bonnie said, "Okay. I really don't mind living with the guys."

Elena nodded. "Yeah, they make good big brothers don't they?"

Bonnie made no comment. She didn't have a biological brother but even she knew the thoughts running through her head pertaining to Damon were far from sisterly.

"Well, as long as you're comfortable and happy that's all that matters," Elena ruled.

Yeah, Bonnie agreed. What would make her happy right now was hitching a ride home with Damon. She looked around the restaurant but didn't see hide nor hair of him. Stefan sauntered up to their table.

"Need a lift?" he kept his focus on Bonnie. "Damon had to dip out."

"Sure," she caved in and collected her jacket and purse and slid out of the booth. "Good night, Elena. See you in school tomorrow."

"See you, Bonnie. Bye Stefan."

"Later."

**Killers who killed killers. **Sounded like an oxymoron but it was the code they lived by, a code they breathed by, a code they died by. The grating noise of a knife being sharpened on a flat stone rock was the only noise to be heard in the warehouse. Waiting took patience, not something many in their profession had, but it was an act of discipline that could save your ass in the field.

The sound of an approaching car interrupted the silence. Several heads looked up and waited for the interloper to show themselves. Guns were clicked off the safety, while others lowered their hands to the hilt of their knives.

One of the large sliding doors of the warehouse was pushed to the side and once the person was revealed, those who had gathered relaxed, others not so much.

Misha Christova approached the person sharpening the knife. "Everything is settled," he spoke without preamble.

"How long before he's ready?"

"Not long."

"I need a specific time frame. There are too many of them. He needs to be prepared."

Misha felt the urgency of the speaker's words prick at his irritation. "_I know that!_" his booming voice reverberated through the large space. Birds hiding in the rafters spread their wings ready to bolt. "Give it time. He doesn't know the truth of what happened to his family and why they were hunted down. He has to believe what he is on his own time or he'll never become one of you."

"He has a month, Misha. If he's not ready…then there is nothing we can do to protect him. Save him," the speaker emphasized.

Gritting his teeth, Misha could do nothing but incline his head. He pointedly made eye contact with a few of the hunters who were looming before pivoting in his boots and leaving the way he came.

No one moved or said a word until they heard him drive off.

"Connor!"

A handsome bald man stepped forward.

"You have your orders. Leave no one…alive."

**The house was quiet **when Damon walked through the door. He figured with it being a school night and all Bonnie would be fast asleep, and Stefan more than likely was taking his nightly stroll through the nearest cemetery. However, he heard feet coming down the stairs. Looking up he saw Bonnie with a throw blanket wrapped around her dainty shoulders. She spotted him seemingly waiting for her.

They stared at one another. "What are you doing up?" he asked and grimaced. Could he sound anymore like a parent?

Bonnie shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. I think I might be suffering from insomnia or something."

Damon took his jacket off and hung it on the stair post. "We should talk, no we _need _to talk."

Bonnie fidgeted a little. This was the moment she was slightly dreading. She sighed. "All right let's talk."

Chapter end.

**A/N: Thank you for reading guys! Love you!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hello you flawless people. This chapter is basically brand freaking new. Aside from the rooftop scene which I added some dialogue from the original chapter, other than that, everything else is as new as a newborn. Hope you enjoy!**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

**He grabbed Bonnie** by the hand and tugged her upstairs.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she tried to keep pace with him.

"The roof."

"What?" she shrieked.

Damon led her all the way to the third floor, a floor she never ventured to. He reached up into the ceiling and pulled down a ladder step and then, opened the hatch which led to the roof. He held his hand out for Bonnie and he easily pulled her up.

Shamelessly she clung to him. The roof was made of nothing but steeples; there wasn't a flat surface anywhere. However as she turned her attention off the fact it would hurt a whole hell of a lot if she tumbled off, she could see nothing but the forest which surrounded the property and of course all the constellations in the sky.

"Wow," she drawled.

Damon sat down and settled Bonnie beside him. They said nothing for a while, just enjoyed the open air, and the twinkle of the stars above them.

Bonnie could feel her self-consciousness rise to the surface. In her dreams she had been fearless when it came to dealing with Damon. She could vaguely recall the teenager she used to be who was burgeoning into young adulthood and who was able to look men like Damon right in the eye and tell them to go fuck themselves without flinching. Inside somewhere she was still that person, but now that her feelings for the vampire sitting next to her had changed, Bonnie felt like such a novice. Oh sure, she could feign indifference but her eyes usually gave away to her innermost thoughts. All Damon would really have to do was penetrate her with his orbs and he'd learn the truth of the matter about everything.

"You know I used to do this," Damon broke the silence.

"Do what?"

"Stare up at the sky and count the constellations. It was a useful distraction when you had to take shelter on a field with canons going off in the distance, wondering if that might be your last night on earth."

It took a moment for Bonnie to realize Damon was recounting his brief stint with the Confederate Army. She remembered Elena telling her about that in passing one day.

"Did you desert the army?" she queried.

"I did. There were no skirts to chase," he smiled. "I only enlisted because that's what a firstborn son does at the first sign of war. It wasn't because I believed in its fucked up ideology."

"Why didn't you?"

Smugness overtook Damon's face. "I've always been ahead of my time. Besides freedom is an absolute not abstract thing. I wanted freedom from my father and his shitty demands. Slaves wanted freedom from their masters. Couldn't fight on the side that wanted to keep them from that."

In what she knew of Damon, which was very little, Bonnie had to admit this surprised her about him. And he didn't appear to be saying it out of politically correctness.

"Were you ever afraid of dying?" Bonnie ventured carefully.

"Hell yeah. I wasn't immortal then so it would have sucked tremendously to have half of my _ridiculously _good-looking face blown off."

Bonnie snorted at his vanity. "For what its worth I'm kinda glad you didn't die," she murmured. "For Stefan's sake, that is," she added as not to give away her personal feelings.

Damon didn't exactly take that sentiment at face value. "What was the other night about, Bonnie?" he switched topics.

She shrugged and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "You just happened to be at the right place at the wrong time. It was a mistake."

"I don't think it was," Damon stretched out on the roof, propping himself up on an elbow. "I think you have a thing for me."

Bonnie gave an un-ladylike snort. "You think _far _too highly of yourself, Damon. Why would you even assume that I like you? Have you forgotten that in the past we barely tolerated each other?"

Damon made a noise of doubt. "You're trying to deflect. You want me to think that what happened meant nothing; that it hasn't affected you, but I've been in this game a _long _time. You're not the same, I can see that. I'd just like to know why. Why have you changed so much?"

"Why do you care?" Bonnie countered. "As far as I know the only thing you cared about, when it came to me was my ability to do magic."

"People do grow eventually," he said in defense of himself.

"You're right," Bonnie too stretched out, cautiously, because she didn't want to tumble off the roof and further embarrass herself or break a bone. "I _had _to change, Damon," she explained. "I can't still hold on to who I used to be because that's not who I am right now. Lucy gave me some sound advice before she left. She told me that I needed to live my life for myself and I've never really done that."

Damon arched an eyebrow. "So that's what you're doing now? Living for Bonnie? Does that include…seducing me?" he grinned. "Mouthing off at Klaus?"

She shrugged and purposely ignored his first question. "Am I still supposed to wet my panties when someone mentions his name?" Bonnie realized how that sounded and blushed but Damon caught her meaning and chuckled. "I have no reason to jump at my shadow because he's near. So what? He achieved what he wanted. He can go whine and complain about how no one appreciates him to someone who cares. Whups, no one does."

Damon laughed softly.

"There are things I want to try and explore," Bonnie continued. "And all I'm going to say is I'm open to them."

"Would you be open to me kissing you?"

Bonnie swallowed the saliva that had pooled in the bottom of her mouth and warded off the shivers that tickled the back of her arms. She shifted until she could see Damon's face. She dropped her eyes to his mouth. Giving him one kiss wouldn't be deviating from the plan per se, Bonnie reasoned.

Her lips parted to respond and Damon leaned closer to her, closing the space between them. She could feel his breath fan against her lips.

At the last minute Bonnie turned her head away. "That's something else you'll have to earn over time," she told him.

Damon smirked and then kissed her cheek. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into," he warned.

"I think I have a vague idea," Bonnie replied, rose, and brushed off the back of her pajama pants. "Have I answered all of your questions?"

"Some of them," Damon hedged.

"Good. I think this high school student should head to bed."

Damon stared up at her for a moment and shrugged. "If that's what you want to do."

She nodded her head and carefully made her way back to the hatch. Bonnie waited for Damon back in the safety of the house. The air between them immediately began to buzz with electricity. Bonnie looked away and walked to her bedroom. Their talk still didn't touch on a tenth of the things going through her mind, but Bonnie felt assured they were making the right progress. As long as she didn't have another slip like she did a few nights ago, things would definitely turn in her favor.

"Good night, Damon."

This was the perfect opportunity to grab her, but he refrained. Restraint wasn't really in his vocabulary, but he could hold off for now. Make Bonnie think she was in the clear.

"Good night, Bonnie."

The young witch slipped into her bedroom and quietly closed the door.

In his room, Damon chucked his wet towel on the rack as he whistled. He strolled over to the bathroom mirror and winked at his reflection. He had more experience in the game of seduction and knew the more sexually frustrated a person was, the more liable they were to fall. Yes, he would work Bonnie up, leave her high and dry only to do it over and over again, much in the same way she delivered her lovely aneurysms. Besides he owed her this considering she didn't assist in helping him get off.

This was going to be sweet.

"Genius!" he said in a sing song voice and strutted over to his bed. He clapped his hands together and the lights went out.

**Next to Calculus**, gym was on Bonnie's long list of ills she wished she could get rid of. Not that she had anything against physical activity and exercise, but gym was a joke. Plain and simple. If they weren't being divided into teams of girls versus guys in an archaic display to show the assumed disparity between the sexes when it came to sports, they were forced to run around the track that was in serious need of repair. Nevertheless, dressed in a loose fitting pair of jogging pants and a red Timberwolves T-shirt, she sat on the bleachers with her small retinue of friends as they all gossiped about Ed Sheeran.

Melissa Hartford perked up suddenly. "Hottie at two o'clock."

Of the seven girls present all of them turned their heads. Bonnie was a little slower to do so. She knew all of the guys in her gym class, had practically grown up with them to where she merely viewed them as annoyances or brothers. It must be fresh meat that had finally arrived, but still Bonnie was in no particular rush to eye the new addition to their sleepy town. Besides, history had taught her a valuable lesson that a new face didn't necessarily mean a good thing.

Eventually she did turn her head to acknowledge the person. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously once they landed on the person.

"I've seen him around but I always assumed he was older. Unless…he's a sub," another girl guessed and wiggled her eyebrows. Who didn't have a naughty fantasy about getting it one with an equally hot teacher?

But Bonnie knew that was no substitute gym teacher. She turned her attention away.

Not a minute later the gym was filled with the frightened screams of girls as a basketball came hurtling towards the bleachers. Heads ducked, but the ball fell short of targeting anyone's face, merely hit the bottom bleacher before spinning away.

Since Bonnie was closer and calmer, she got up and retrieved the ball. Her feet cleared the space separating her from the supposed ball throwing culprit.

"What are you doing here?" Bonnie asked the minute she stood in front of none other than Kol Mikaelson.

The dark-haired vampire leered at Bonnie and plucked the orange rubber sphere from her fingers. He artfully began to spin the ball on his index finger and did some other neat tricks with it, that even from the distance he could hear Bonnie's friends sigh at his skills. For her part, Bonnie folded her arms over her chest waiting for him to answer her question.

"I'm here to receive an education of course," Kol replied and tossed the ball up in the air and cleverly caught it between his shoulder blades. Releasing it, it fell to his hands and he was back to spinning it once more on his finger.

"Are you sure you didn't mistake this for the Ringling Brothers circus audition?"

Kol gifted her with a smile revealing white teeth that looked sharp like a drawer full of knives. It did something pleasant to his face though, nearly humanizing him. Again, another chorus of sighs and hearts fluttering touched the tall ceiling of the gymnasium.

"You're a funny lass, Bonnie Bennett," Kol said and began to circle her while bouncing the basketball. "Tell me, why was Damon so adamant in keeping your identity secret?"

"Ask him?"

"Under much different circumstances I would, but seeing as how I hate his guts, I'll pass on that end," he stopped in front of her. "Are you his lover?"

An eyebrow climbed up her forehead as Bonnie stared into Kol's eyes the color reminding her of molasses. "Why don't you come out and ask me what his penis size is?" Bonnie scoffed. "Because I fail to see how any of that is your business."

"I meant no disrespect," Kol replied contritely. "I'm sorry if I offended you," he back pedaled.

Bonnie muttered dismissively, "Yeah whatever. Just stay out of my way, keep your teeth to yourself, and you and I won't have any problems. Should any of that change, you'll be hearing from me."

The leer was back on his face as Kol leaned forward his bottom lip nearly touched the shell of Bonnie's ear. "I certainly hope to hear…_lots_ of things from you, du er nydelig in the future."

Bonnie leaned away from him gazed at Kol quizzically, "Did you…did you just call me beautiful?"

Kol, jaw slack, was momentarily at a lost for words. "You understand Norwegian?"

"I shouldn't but I did. Say something else."

"All right!" a brusque and commanding voice halted all activity. Their gym teacher had finally arrived and called the class to attention.

Bonnie stood rooted to her spot as she watched Kol walk off. What the hell was that?

All throughout gym Bonnie felt his eyes on her, burning her with their scrutiny. Today they had been subjected to running drills and doing aerobic exercises that certainly made the unused muscles in her body protest, but it felt good because she hadn't moved like this in the last four months. Whenever Bonnie was brave enough, she'd seek out Kol and saw that he moved with an agility and gracefulness that was indicative of being other, if you knew what to look for. To the average human eye he simply moved like a top-pro athlete.

There wasn't a drop of sweat on his body by the time class was over. And to Bonnie's astonishment, Kol was given praise from his counterparts in the form of complicated handshakes.

Kenya Banks approached Bonnie at the end of class, taking her by the arm, breathing heavily. "That new guy couldn't keep his eyes off your ass. Are you going to get his number?"

Bonnie laughed and snorted rudely. "Hell no," and she said it loud enough for Kol to hear. "He's not my type."

That proclamation earned her an incredulous look from Kenya. "Girl, bye. Not your type? So fine as hell is not your type? Are you feeling okay?"

Bonnie warded off Kenya's hand as it tried to check her temperature on her forehead. "I feel fine. Besides…I'm kind of…talking to someone else at the moment."

"Talking to doesn't mean relationship. You better jump on that when you have the chance. Hell, I might go after him myself."

"You don't want to tangle with that one," Bonnie warned and looked over her shoulder and directly at Kol. "He bites."

Kol chuckled softly and made a right once they reached the locker rooms.

"Sounds kinky," Kenya said as she and Bonnie went left to enter the female locker room.

**He glossed over his fabricated **birth certificate, medical records, and school transcripts. He scoffed at his new name. He would no longer be known as Nero Lukas Petros Stathopoulous; he was now Aleksander Stavros.

If his ya-ya was still alive she would be tearing and ripping her clothes and crying out in shame.

According to the script outlining his new life, "Aleksander's" parents were Greek merchants who had called Long Island, New York home, died in a boating accident last summer. Being an only child, he was sent off to live with an uncle who promptly kicked him out the minute he turned eighteen and stopped receiving checks from the state to see to his care. Legally declaring his independence, Aleksander packed up his belongings and moved to quiet Mystic Falls to finish his senior year at the local high school with aspirations of attending Loyola University in Illinois to study Theology.

Nero scoffed. He was Greek Orthodox, but devoting his life to the service of the church or clergy was so off the mark, he quickly conceived of a way to sabotage that minor detail.

It was a script after all and scripts could easily be rewritten at a moment's notice. Nero had every intention of playing his part until the ones responsible for the systematic murder of his family were captured and shown the same kindness. But once the coast was clear he wouldn't hesitate to leave this dismal American life behind.

Be that as it may, for the time being he was stuck here. Nero stuffed notebooks , sheaves of paper, and writing utensils in his leather book bag. Today he would be stepping foot outside of his new home for the first time since arriving to go and enroll at Mystic Falls High. These past days he had kept to himself, minimizing his contact with the outside world. His feverish dreams of men dressed in black moving impossibly too fast to be real plagued him and slightly made him paranoid. All Nero wanted was answers. Why had his family been targeted? What business deal did his father get entangled in that warranted his slaughter? Next Nero focused the questions on himself. Why had his life been spared? What made him so special that people—allies of his father risked their own lives and credibility to help him?

Nero didn't know, but he would find out the answers.

It took him no time to reach the school. He guessed that could be a credit to small towns. Everything was conveniently located within a stone's throw of each other. Parking the family-sized SUV in a vacant spot, Nero grabbed his satchel and stepped foot on the asphalt.

The tips of his ears began to burn as he drew curious and probing stares from those lingering in the parking lot. He couldn't remember the last time he was the new kid on the block. In actuality he had never been the new kid. All of his life he had attended private schools or had tutors when his family often jet set around the world. Nero wasn't so sheltered and naïve not to know what a public school was. He had seen them on TV, but to actually attend one where his classmates would come from a mixture of social and socioeconomic backgrounds was somewhat terrifying. The absolute last thing he wanted to do was offend anyone. He was still learning American customs, so his plan was to keep his head down, become invisible, and say as little as possible.

He found his way to the main office easily enough. He announced who he was to the secretary and showed her all of the "proper and authentic" documents to complete his registration.

"Coming from Long Island to Mystic Falls must be a shock. Hopefully you won't find us too boring," the secretary said.

Nero merely offered her a smile but made no comment. He knew just as much about Long Island as she probably did.

"Here is your schedule and a map of the school. If you have any problems you can come back and see us, and we'll assign you to a student ambassador who's been trained to help transfer and new students feel welcomed," the strawberry blond woman with the too bright lipstick smiled at Nero.

"Thank you very much," he responded in his thick accent.

The secretary blinked and remembered where she was. Didn't stop her from patting her hair though. "You're welcome, Aleksander. And be sure to have all of your teachers sign this," she handed him an authorization form.

Leaving the office, Nero stared at his schedule. He already missed his first class and was off to his second: US History with Alaric Saltzman. Finding the room was a bit difficult, but Nero slithered through the door hoping to go unnoticed.

Naturally that didn't happen. With his arrival he was the veritable sore thumb. Nero caught several girls coquetting, hoping to catch his eye. They were all average looking, plain, what he had come to expect to see. He turned away from them and handed over the authorization form to the man standing in front of the blackboard.

"Ah, a new student. I'm Alaric Saltzman. Welcome," Ric stretched out his hand towards Nero who gave him a sturdy handshake in reply. "Don't worry, I won't make you stand up in front of the class and make you tell us something about yourself. I'm all out of textbooks, but you can share with someone."

"Thank you," Nero replied once again not wanting to say too much.

Of course his accent didn't go unnoticed by Alaric. He looked down at the document in his hand. It had Long Island, NY listed as Nero's last place of residence, but his accent definitely wasn't of a northern dialect.

Bonnie entered the classroom right before the bell sounded. She tossed Ric an apologetic smile, glanced at the guy who was standing and looking uncertain in front of Ric's desk before making her way to her own.

"You can have a seat next to the girl in the gray blouse. She's one of my best students."

Nodding his head, Nero turned and sought out the girl in question. He spotted her digging into her bag and pulling out her materials. Dashing down the aisle, Nero sat down in the desk next to Bonnie's and cleared his throat.

Turning her head at the sound Bonnie looked at the new guy. More like gawked. He was handsome with dark hair, sea green eyes, and a premature five o'clock shadow. He had a face that was mature far beyond his years, and a kissable mouth. Her cheeks reddened a bit.

"You're new," was the first thing to traipse out of her mouth.

"I am. I don't have the reading material for this class. Do you mind if we share?"

_Oh wow_, Bonnie thought once hearing his accent. She should have known someone with his looks _would _haveone. "No, not at all," Bonnie slid her desk closer to Nero's.

Alaric called the class to attention and jumped right into the lesson.

It wasn't until then that Nero felt the anxiety ebb from his shoulders. The man had lived up to his promise of not making him stand to his feet and proclaim to a false name and identity; of having to hammer in the fact from this moment forward he had to deny who he was and place it on the back burner as if it never mattered.

The girl sitting beside him watched their teacher intently and scribbled notes accordingly. Not once had Nero felt her eyes, almost the same shade of green as his linger on him. Not to say that women flocked to him whenever he stepped foot outside of the door. But typically some women went out of their way to try to garner his attention. In either case, Nero immediately felt relaxed around her, which was odd considering he didn't warm up to people easily.

"Bonnie," someone whispered the girl's name.

Bonnie looked at Elena across the aisle. "What?"

"You got a pen I can borrow?"

Bonnie sighed and then proceeded to rummage around in her bag, but then stopped when Nero held out his pen towards her.

"It's the least I can do since you're sharing your book with me."

She smiled. Cute and sweet. She passed his pen to Elena who of course gave Bonnie one of her pointed looks. Bonnie ignored her.

"You're name is Bonnie?" Nero asked.

"Yes. That reminds me we didn't exchange names. I'm Bonnie Bennett."

Nero revealed nothing, but he just found the person Misha Christova said he could turn to for answers. "Aleksander Stavros."

They smiled at one another and then redirected their attention back to the front of the class.

Nero began to think. He expected Bonnie Bennett to be well in age, not a girl of seventeen, eighteen at the most. And he began to wonder, tried to connect the dots to how Misha knew of her or how she knew of Misha because he was having a hard time believing they had any plausible connection. Once class was over he would talk to her, but what exactly would he say: my entire family has been murdered do you know why? Yes, that would be a wonderful ice-breaker.

The class seemed to drag on and finally the bell rang signaling its end. Bonnie quickly shoved her things back into her bag.

Nero got to his feet and waited. Bonnie felt him lingering and made eye contact.

There was a sadness lining Aleksander's eyes and she wondered what his story was, but she had too much on the brain and wasn't exactly in the right setting to pry.

"How do you like things so far?" she asked.

Nero shrugged. "This has been only my first class." The material was dated in his eyes but he felt it would be rude to make that comment. "I'm still adjusting."

Drawing her bottom lip between her teeth, Bonnie shouldered her bag. "What class do you have next?"

Nero looked at his schedule, "Auto mechanics," he grimaced.

Bonnie chuckled a bit. "Mr. Blithe inspires that kind of reaction from everyone. You'll get used to the smell."

Nero had no idea what she was talking about. Did the class smell or the man himself?

"Well, I'll see you later, Aleksander and welcome to Mystic Falls."

Nero let her getaway. It was never good to appear too eager, but she had information and he was desperate to get it. But first, he wanted to learn all he could about Bonnie Bennett.

**This girl was beginning** to monopolize his schedule and his time. Damon leaned against his car, legs crossed at the ankles, leather-clad arms folded over his chest, shades concealing is glacial eyes.

He was waiting and patience wasn't exactly his best virtue.

Still when Bonnie cornered him in the kitchen and requested that he pick her up from school (because she had developed an aversion to driving her own wheels, was his speculation) he wanted to tell her no. It was his automatic response whenever someone asked a favor of him, and Damon saw no reason to change it. But all it took was one memory of that night he dipped his fingers in her cake and tasted her icing and he was pretty much ready to do her bidding.

He liked control. He liked orchestrating things to fall in his favor. He was a grandmaster puppeteer and he saw no reason to alter it. Yet little by little he was allowing Bonnie to have influence over him.

If he didn't know any better he would say he was being compelled.

In the morning his thoughts were often centered on her. Of seeing her face, hearing her voice, smelling her skin.

Fuck! He shook his head. He wasn't going to go down this road again.

His musing flew away like frightened birds the minute he spotted Bonnie in the crowd of departing students. She looked pensive which wasn't anything new or unusual, but walking just a few paces behind her was Kol.

Damon stood up a bit straighter yet he didn't move from his spot. He watched with crazed eyes as Kol reached Bonnie and took her by the elbow.

Bonnie jumped a little at the contact, swung around, and faced her new apparent stalker.

Naturally Damon listened in on their conversation.

"Would it be too presumptuous to ask you to dine with me tonight as a way of making amends?" Kol asked.

Bonnie shook her head, curls bouncing as she chuckled softly. "I think you already know the answer to that."

Stuffing a hand in his jean pocket, Kol tilted his head. "What do you really have against me? Despite what you might have heard, I am after all, amicus humani generis."

"A friend of the human race," Bonnie translated his Latin. "I doubt that very seriously. Look, maybe your heart is in the right place I don't know. If your 'interest'," she made air quotation marks in the air, "is genuine or you've simply been tasked to keep an eye on me via your brother, please leave me alone. And that's the last time I'm going to tell you. _Nicely._"

To Bonnie's dismay, Kol didn't look deterred in the least. His face clearly read: challenge accepted.

"Is it him?" Kol inclined his head in Damon's general direction.

Redirecting her attention to the vampire leaning against his blue vintage ride, Bonnie remained mum on the subject.

"Perhaps it's me but I really don't see the appeal."

Hitching the strap of her purse higher on her shoulder, Bonnie pivoted in her boots and marched away. "Gotdamn conceited vampires," she muttered.

Just as Kol turned to head off to his own car, he shoulder checked a human in his path. The hooded person mumbled something in Greek.

Bonnie mumbled hello to Damon at his car who opened up the passenger side door for her. The two of them said nothing as he cranked the engine and gunned down the street.

Damon looked at Bonnie across the console. "I guess I don't need to repeat myself about you staying away from him."

"No, you don't. But don't be too hard on him, Damon. It wasn't that long ago someone was telling me to stay as far away from you as possible. Not like it mattered."

He smirked. "So what was Kol doing there anyways? Posing as a student? He's lame."

Bonnie made no comment.

Her silence pricked him for some strange reason. "You don't like him do you?" Damon realized how juvenile he sounded but it was far too late to take it back.

"I barely know him. But…I discovered something new about myself that I'm not exactly sure how to process it."

"What?" Damon rolled the car to a stop at a red light and brought his eyes back to Bonnie.

She matched his gaze. "I understand Norwegian."

Damon was clearly confused. "What?"

"Kol said something to me in Norwegian and I understood what he said. I don't know how it's possible, but…" Bonnie hunched her shoulders, "I guess that's another skill I can add to my resume."

Damon mulled over this new revelation. "You understanding Norwegian out of the blue…will that prove to be a good or bad thing?"

"I guess we'll find out soon enough. Can we make a pit stop at the library? I want to do some research on this. I meant to ask Alaric, but it kind of slipped my mind."

Groaning because he hated running people on errands, Damon took the appropriate streets to the library. Thankfully the library was a virtual ghost town this time of day. He followed dutifully behind Bonnie as she went from section to section seemingly unable to make up her mind on what she wanted to narrow her search on. His patience was running low.

Damon ran his powder blue eyes over Bonnie who was completely immersed in her activity as if she had forgotten he was standing beside her. She was donned in her standard uniform of tight jeans that molded to her legs, peasant blouse and cardigan. He never made any promise to behave himself and he noticed that Bonnie hadn't explicitly gone out of her way to set boundaries either. There was only one way to find out what her limits were as the daredevil inside of him reared its head. Besides he was bored.

So distracted was she that Bonnie didn't see him closing in.

Damon pulled Bonnie to him and smashed her against the stacks jostling the books causing a few of them to fall to the carpeted floor. He worked a knee between her thighs, snaked his arm around her waist, and aimed for her lips, but Bonnie turned her head away.

"Damon, what are you doing?" Bonnie shrieked.

"Nothing," he tried for innocence but failed. "I merely forgot to do something earlier. That's all."

Futilely Bonnie pushed at his chest knowing it wouldn't be enough to get him to budge. "Seriously, Damon cut it out before we get caught."

"That's part of the fun," he whispered and tried to pepper kisses along her neck, but Bonnie ducked out of the way. "Stop playing with me," he nearly growled.

"I'm not playing with you, Damon."

He grabbed her hand and placed it on his burgeoning erection. Bonnie bit her lip and felt her face warm.

"Do you want that, Bonnie?"

Uh-no this was how things started in her dream. She bit her lip harder, to the point the taste of metallic blood filled her mouth. She defiantly shook her head although her own body began to hum and respond to Damon's aroused state.

He forced her fingers to cup his package. Well, she didn't have anything to do other than feel his hard member in the warmth of her hand. Okay, all right he wanted to go there, they could go there. Covertly looking around to make sure they were completely alone, with some clever maneuvering Bonnie was able to lower the zipper of his jeans and slipped her hand inside.

Damon's head fell back the second she touched him. Both sets of her lips began to water and it was a miracle she still had the strength to remain upright. Bonnie pumped his shaft a few times before withdrawing her hand, but Damon stuffed it back down his pants.

"_Finish_ it," he commanded while the look in his eyes was feral.

Bonnie acquiesced and alternated using tight and loose pressure, quick and slow pumps. He was so hard Bonnie likened the feeling to concrete with a thin membrane of flesh wrapped around it. She manipulated him bringing him close to the edge but then slowed down, almost tapering off until increasing her speed. His body began to quake. Damon stiffened, groaned low in his throat as he oozed cum in cool liquid spurts that coated her fingers.

His forehead thudded against the shelf behind Bonnie's head. Damon's shoulders heaved with the movement of his breath. That was a nut he certainly needed to bust. Once he collected himself, he peeled away from Bonnie, and zipped his pants. Damon said nothing but got lost to the men's room to clean himself up.

Bonnie remained where she was and made a tight fist of the hand that had been lodged down Damon's pants. Her breath came out in hard pants and for a second she felt empowered. She had held the reins in her hand, the rod of control, and she loved it. She wanted more but reminded herself that good things came to those who wait.

Bonnie marched off to the ladies room to get rid of the evidence of her milking Mr. Salvatore.

**Staring at his reflection in the mirror **Damon splashed cold water on his face. What had happened was intense and definitely chipped away at the sexually frustrated plate that had been on his shoulder, but it wasn't nearly enough. He was losing control of himself, not that he lived a rigid life of discipline as those in Asian cultures did, but he liked being able to know what his next move would be before he made it. With Bonnie he felt he was literally giving her power over him served up on a silver fucking platter.

Maybe this all stemmed from the fact he heard her conversation with Kol. Maybe in his subconscious he viewed him as competition and wanted to eliminate any thoughts Bonnie might be entertaining about the Original. Not saying he wanted to be anything more than a possible vampire stud in Bonnie's life, but in some ways he had always viewed her as his.

Not in the lover or romantic sense. But it never hurt a vampire to have a witch in your back pocket. So long as Elena needed saving he knew Bonnie would be around to perform her witchy ju-ju at the snap of the finger, but things were different now. Things were calm until of course someone decided to shake things up with their bullshit.

Drying his face off with a few sheets of hard paper napkins, Damon exited the bathroom and found Bonnie searching the stacks again as if nothing transpired. He watched her for a moment wanting to put his finger on the reason why things had taken a sexual turn between them. In their colorful past they never even flirted with one another, unless you wanted to count trying to end someone's life as a form of foreplay, that simply wasn't who they were.

He cocked his head to side as he continued to examine Bonnie. She was beautiful, sexy. That was all visceral. There was more to her. She was like the painting of Mona Lisa. Was she really smiling? Was she cursing you out in her head and conveyed that with the tiny lift of her lip? An aura of mystery surrounded Bonnie yet she had her moments were she was wide open, easy to read like a Kindle. But he never went out of his way to figure her out. There had been no point back then.

Shaking his head at his musings, Damon strolled up next to her. "Do you have everything you need?"

Bonnie was proud of herself that she didn't jump at the sound of his voice. Standing up from her slightly bent over position, Bonnie made eye contact with Damon unable to read the nature of his thoughts on his face.

"Yeah," she finally responded. Pickings were slim and she only found a few books on parapsychology, cognitive thoughts, and linguistics.

Bonnie checked out the books and then she and Damon were once again alone.

The tension during the ride to the boardinghouse was thick, palpable yet Bonnie spent the whole time texting. Damon was a little annoyed with the lack of attention Bonnie was giving him, but then got over it. If she wanted to act like nothing happened in the library he could, too.

His back pocket began to vibrate. Damon hiked up his butt cheek to retrieve it and saw it was Elena calling. "Hello?... She's with me. I'll ask."

Bonnie looked at Damon curiously the minute he took his eyes off the road. "Elena wants to know if you want to eat dinner at her house."

"Sure saves me the trouble of cooking."

Damon relayed that information to Elena and promptly ended the phone call.

They were parked outside of casa de Gilbert in less than five minutes. Bonnie stared up at the house she considered her home away from home. Staring at the two-story colonial evoked so many memories from her childhood, some of them good, some of them not so good, but in all a large chunk of her existence took place behind the walls of that house.

Wordlessly she and Damon walked up the short flight of stairs, crossed over the veranda and knocked on the door. More than likely it was unlocked but for propriety sake, they decided not to just barge in like they owned the joint.

Elena opened the door with flourish. "Hey!" she stepped aside allowing the witch and vampire entry.

"Thanks for the invite," Bonnie said and fell into Elena's outstretched arms.

Damon looked around as if he were expecting to see something new. Nothing had changed but he did feel a pair of eyes on him that he was choosing not to acknowledge.

"Something smells good," he sniffed the air a few times trying to guess at what was bubbling on the stove. Apparently they were about to gorge themselves on baked chicken, and spinach casserole.

"Thanks," Elena pushed a strand of hair behind her pierced ear. "Don't worry I didn't cook anything. Stefan and Alaric did most of the prep work."

Placing a hand on his stomach, Damon pulled one of his famous faces. He had subjected himself to Elena's culinary skills back when he was trying to worm a place into her heart. Unfortunately immortality wasn't exactly a safeguard against diarrhea.

"I'll just go ahead and say my colon thanks you very much," he remarked and then made his way to the kitchen.

Elena and Bonnie stared after him for a second before turning back to each other. "Hey, did you get a chance to talk to that new guy you were sitting beside in history?"

"Not really. He has a really nice accent, though. I'm not sure but he might be Greek."

Elena's eyebrows lifted up in interest before a knowing smile spread across her face. Bonnie knew that look well and already she was shaking her head.

"Don't even go there with me, Gilbert."

"Oh, I know you're on your way to becoming a nun," Elena bumped her shoulder with Bonnie's who pursed her lips at her. "I was thinking more so for myself."

Bonnie wanted to wiggle her ear to make sure she heard right. Elena showing an interest in someone whose last name wasn't Salvatore? That had to have been some type of sorcery. Before her coma when she and Elena would engage in conversation it seemed every other word that came out of her mouth was Stefan this and Damon that or some reference to them. To hear Elena hinting about possibly moving on to new male real estate was a bit of a shock to Bonnie's system. Was it possible she was getting her _old _friend back? The girl who used to be crazy about boys, and kissed her fair share of them before settling down into a monogamous relationship?

Bonnie dared not to hope.

Elena frowned, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Shaking her head, Bonnie laughed a little. "It's just…it's just been a while since you've shown an interest in someone who's…"

"Not dead?" Elena finished the sentiment with a nod of her head. "I know, but it's time I get back on that dating horse. And you too, madam."

Oh, Bonnie was trying mount something all right but it definitely wasn't a horse.

Alaric peeked around the corner, "Dinner is ready."

"All right," Elena made her way to the kitchen but stopped. "Oh, can you tell Jeremy it's time to eat?"

Nodding, Bonnie went up the staircase and then hooked a left to Jeremy's bedroom. His door was slightly ajar and she knocked once and waited for some kind of acknowledgement. When none followed, Bonnie tentatively pushed the door open and saw him sitting at his desk feet propped up, headphones on, sketching something on a notepad.

Walking lightly across the floor, Bonnie tapped Jeremy on the shoulder who nearly fell out of his chair. Bonnie laughed.

Jeremy scrambled to take his headphones off, surprise the dominate expression on his face at seeing her. In his room. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Elena invited me and Damon to dinner."

Some of Jeremy's joy wiped off his face the second he heard Damon's name, but he recovered easily enough, and then stood to his feet. He was just happy to see Bonnie so Damon being around was a moot point.

"Cool," he said. "Let me go wash my hands."

"Oh, I should do that too."

Together they entered the bathroom he shared with Elena and washed their hands. Jeremy playfully sprayed Bonnie with water who popped him on the shoulder in rebuke, but allowed a tiny smile to curl her lips. After drying their hands they retraced their steps back into his bedroom, but then Jeremy remembered something.

"Actually I'm glad you're here because now I can give you something I've been holding on to for a while."

Bonnie waited and watched as Jeremy rummaged around in one of the drawers of his desk. He pulled out an oblong shaped piece of ecru paper and sheepishly presented it to her.

It was a real-life pencil drawing of a rose.

"It's beautiful, Jeremy, thank you," Bonnie caught him flushing slightly in his cheeks.

"When we were together I never gave you flowers or candy or much of anything a guy gives to his girlfriend. I started working on it the night you brought me back from the dead," Jeremy stepped closer to Bonnie, looming over her. "Look at the stem."

Bonnie held the paper closer to her eyes and she noticed the stem wasn't a typical stem, but they were words, words written in Latin that formed the stem. Bonnie was able to decipher a few of them.

"_Nunc scio quid sit amor_…"

"Now I know what love is," Jeremy translated and cupped Bonnie's cheek.

_Oh, shit, _Bonnie thought and subsequently felt trapped. Jeremy began to lower his head.

"Ah-hem!"

Bonnie jerked out of Jeremy's reach and turned her head towards the door to find Damon leaning against the doorframe looking less than pleased. His lapis lazuli eyes shifted over to Jeremy who was obviously salty his little romantic interlude with Bonnie had been interrupted. That brought a modicum of joy to Damon considering that not half an hour ago Bonnie's hand was down his pants.

"Dinner is getting cold," Damon announced succinctly.

Bonnie spared Jeremy one brief look. "Thank you for the drawing, Jeremy. I really do love it."

Jeremy said nothing, in fact he wasn't even looking at Bonnie because he was too busy glaring at Damon. Yet he nodded his head.

Holding the drawing close to her chest Bonnie walked towards the door and waited for Damon to step out of the way. He did and flashed her the quickest of smiles. Bonnie got missing downstairs. Jeremy tried to follow but naturally Damon barred the exit.

The two of them sized the other up.

"What?" Jeremy barked.

Damon placed his hands on Jeremy's shoulders and felt the teen stiffen. "Just some friendly advice. Your ship with Bonnie has sailed and sunk like the Titanic. She's now taking a ride on the Royal Caribbean," he patted Jeremy's cheek none-to-gently and vanished. Damon figured it would take Jeremy a while to figure out his meaning.

Chapter end.

**A/N: Well, well, well Bonnie certainly has had quite a busy day. Bonnie's ability to understand Norwegian will come into play in a future chapter. I do something's random, but eventually everything does serve a purpose. Nero and Bonnie have crossed paths and we'll begin to learn more about him and exactly why he's in Mystic Falls. I threw in some Beremy because yes I might have gotten caught up in the hype surrounding 4x09. Now all of a sudden he has warm and fuzzy feelings for Bonnie when Anna was the only girl he's ever loved *smh* but whatever! At least we have someone willing to admit they actually do care for Bonnie, not that I find this route acceptable. But it is what it is. Because she's essential, Bonnie will be interacting with every single dude I can think of, but not to worry, Damon will be her number one boo. JP is a thieving ass (thank you Ipodchick for pointing that out) hater and in the form of reparations I strive to give Bonnie her just due. Love, friendship, protection, happiness. I probably won't get around to updating until 2013 so have a safe and blessed holiday and continue to keep the families of those who lost their children/loved ones in Connecticut in your prayers. Love you! Oh, and I finally have a Tumblr! You can follow me notanotherlapislove. I've talked long enough, see you guys!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Happy New Year Bamonators! Before my hiatus I guess I should have mentioned that I was going on vay-cay and would have limited Internet access, that's why there were no updates. But thank you for your patience. I only made minor changes to this chapter. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

**The occupants of the** Salvatore boardinghouse had fallen into their own rhythm where schedules didn't overlap and everyone was pretty much left to his or her own devices. Since her rooftop encounter with Damon and the thrilling event which happened at the library, Bonnie tried not to cave into wanton desires and open herself up. She knew if she did cave she'd have nothing to show for it except an orgasm and possibly bragging rights which would last a full twenty-four hours before the feel of her on Damon's dick was replaced with a bar floozy.

Whatever plan Damon had decided to cook up he was given no time to implement. One urgent phone call from an old acquaintance had him packing an overnight bag and he left with no promise to his return. That was three days ago. Bonnie didn't think there was anyone in Damon's life he'd drop whatever he was doing to go off and help, but again she only knew bits and pieces of his past and those had been fed intravenously through a third party, not the man himself.

Now she sat in the main living room flipping the ecru pages of the novel she bought at the only decent bookstore in town.

Stefan joined her and sat down on the opposite end of the couch. "Hey, Bon, what you reading?"

She held up the cover so he could see the bare-chested cowboy holding the cleavage showing damsel in distress. "Smut," she answered plainly. If she couldn't have any she might as well read about it.

Stefan grinned and twisted his day walking ring on his finger. "Is it any good?"

"Smut is always good if not a little contrived."

Curious Stefan tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"Call it lack of world experience, but I find it hard to believe that two people could be so attracted to one another that they'd bone after barely exchanging names. And after their one tryst they're instant soul mates; no other lover before can compare to that person."

Stefan smiled and lifted a dark eyebrow in the air. "Bonnie, how many people have you made love to? Or had sex like a porn star with?"

Taken aback, Bonnie stopped perusing the book and let it fall to her chest. She stared at Stefan with wide and incredulous eyes that he'd ask her such a personal question. As much as she wanted to tell him to mind his business, she instead blushed and then hid her face behind the book where of course her eyes would crash into the word "cock".

Stefan reached over and plucked the book out of her hands, skimmed over a paragraph or two before tossing it on the coffee table.

Bonnie groaned and reluctantly stared at him. "Never," she answered silently.

He wasn't surprised by her answer and appreciated her honesty. "That's what I thought. You want to know something about me that you probably never would have thought was possible, but…the best sex I've had was with complete strangers."

Bonnie's jaw thumbed against her chest. She pointed at him. "Stef…are you trying to tell me you were a nympho?"

The vampire shook his head. "No. Please note I said sex, not making love which is two totally different things. When I was…less of a nerd," he snorted and Bonnie giggled. "I would encounter a woman who after taking one look at her I just _had _to have her. It was an uncanny need that defied belief but it does happen. And the sex," he said emphatically, "was passionate like we would literally die if we couldn't consummate our attraction to each other. That's what I believe most authors are trying to convey. That _the_ most physical and out of control experience can open your eyes to what you're lacking in other areas of your life.

"I'm not saying knock off every guy that crosses your path. But when you meet the person whose touch you crave more than your next full breath, and with an urgency that can't be explained, that's the person you shouldn't let go of."

Something shifted within Bonnie and she began to look at Stefan through new eyes. She knew he couldn't have lived for all this time without learning something, or without being equipped to break down life situations with simplicity. And everything he shared with her made her think of only one person.

Bonnie thought very briefly over her love life. There had been Jeremy, and before him she shared a single, perfect kiss with her freshman crush. That had been it. That was her sexual history complete in only two sentences. She and Jeremy didn't have a large window of time to explore their sexuality and had only slept together a handful of times. Unfortunately those encounters had been brief and rushed because there was always some situation that she was called to fix and handle.

However, in her dreams she experienced the smutty side to romance, the kind that had been publicized, written about extensively, and turned into box office movies, and prime time television.

And she wanted it back.

Stefan knew Bonnie was thinking about something and more than likely—someone. He never made it a habit to pry into anyone's personal business, but it was safe to assume Bonnie hadn't done a tenth of the things written within the first fifty pages of the novel she was reading when she was with Jeremy. Poor girl. She missed out on a lot.

"You okay, Bon?"

Hearing Stefan's voice broke her from her reverie. "Yeah, I was just thinking about something's."

"Like what?"

"Like what if the person is _wrong _for you?"

Stefan hunched a shoulder. "Then the person is wrong. But that's something you can only find out through spending time with that individual, getting to know them."

"I guess that would make sense," Bonnie guffawed. "Who knew you could turn smut into a life lesson."

Stefan grinned and then rose from the couch. "I've had lots of practice with a whole lot of topics." Pause. "I was going to go down to The Grill. You want to roll?"

Bonnie shook her head. "No, I think I'll stay in."

"All right," he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "You'll probably be asleep by the time I get back."

"Okay. Be safe," she told him.

Stefan began heading towards the door. "I always am. And remember don't let any strangers in the house," he teased and then vanished.

Concentration totally blown, Bonnie rose from the couch and stretched. She no longer wanted to read about the two main characters getting it on, she wanted to get it on. But at present Damon Salvatore was absent and she was in this humungous house by herself with hours to waste. After listening to Stefan all she wanted to do was get closer to Damon in any way she could.

So Bonnie found herself entering his bedroom. He might have been gone but she felt his presence fill up the entire room. She could smell faint whiffs of his cologne and it led her to her his closet. Bonnie pushed the door open and stared at the endless rows of black. Damon was bit of an anal neat freak. All his clothes were assembled according to style and then broken down by designer.

She trailed her fingers over his shirts and then stopped about midway into his closet. She selected a black button down—read the label—Ralph Lauren. Wordlessly Bonnie traipsed out of his closet, lovingly placed his shirt on the bed and proceeded to strip out of her clothes. She left her underwear on and then picked up his shirt, shrugged it on, buttoned it up and then walked into the bathroom to inspect herself. She looked good wearing his clothes.

Bonnie spotted his cologne bottle and instantly reached for it. She sprayed her neck, her wrists, even the back of her knees. Okay, her behavior was a little stalkerish but at this point she was so horny and lonely she didn't really care. Yet she frowned. Despite wearing his clothes and his cologne she still didn't feel connected to him.

That's where she caught the reflection of his bed in the mirror. Bonnie spun on her heels and in the next second found her fingers pulling back the crisp white comforter and sheets. She always wondered why Damon preferred to sleep on white sheets since he made it no secret that black was his favorite color. And since white was supposed to be one representation of innocence, Bonnie knew Damon's bed was the last place to look for chastity.

She climbed up on his great beg and snuggled in the middle of it. At first she thought of nothing but as her eyes drifted closed flashbacks of her dreams began to assault her. She saw _Damon_ poised above her kissing her recklessly, running _his_ talented hands over her body, teasing her until she came undone. Then, _he_ was inside of her, marking her, committing her every secret to memory.

Her hand automatically reached for a button to work it out of the corresponding hole. Her breathing changed, became labored to match the tingling sensations that were shooting throughout her body like a bullet looking to do irreversible damage. She kept unbuttoning the shirt until it fell open. _Damon's_ mouth was at her breast now, _his_ tongue darting against her nipple making it stand at attention like a soldier. Then that same tongue was making its pilgrimage to her navel. _He_ tossed her left leg over_ his_ shoulder to gain better access to her jewel, and she felt it, the slice of _his_ cold tongue against her searing heat and Bonnie arched off the bed and clutched the sheets between her legs.

Over and over again _he_ assaulted her with his tongue, spelling out the alphabet, his name, her name, the longest word in the dictionary. It didn't matter and she didn't want it to stop.

In real time blood rushed to her ears, and to her clit enlarging the bundle of nerves that Bonnie had no choice but to flick her own fingers against it.

Her essence pooled down and wet her panties and the mattress beneath. She didn't care. She was with _Damon_ in this moment and shrugged her underwear off.

Moans passed through her lips and intensified in frequency and in pitch. The lights flickered. _Damon_ had just positioned_ himself_ right between her thighs and with one quick thrust _he_ buried himself to the hilt.

"Shiiiiittttt!" Bonnie drew out the word and bit the corner of her lip. _Damon_ was merciless as he rotated his hips, thrust in and out of her while saying all the vile things he had yet to do to her.

"_I'm going to carve my name in your pussy, Bonnie." _

"Please do, _Damon_," she replied out loud.

"_I_'_m going to shoot my load all over your tits."_

She groaned.

"_Play with them, Bonnie," he barked._

Her hands obeyed, slipped down the cups to her bra and got busy.

"_That's my good, sweet girl."_

_Damon_ pulled out and flipped her on her stomach. In less than half a second _he_ was buried back in her.

"_Don't stop playing with your tits; better yet tease your clit. Do it, Bonnie or I'll stop."_

Again she obeyed_ his_ command because _he_ couldn't stop. That just would have been plum mean.

She was so close and hissed when she felt _Damon's_ fingers brush against her, pushing her inadequate hand out of the way. Bonnie bit down on her tongue and balled his sheets in her hands.

"You mean so much to me, Damon," Bonnie practically screamed as tears poured down her cheeks.

"_You mean the world to me, Bonnie," _he kept thrusting in and out of her, hitting her G-spot, smacking her butt cheeks sporadically. _"Are you ready to cum?"_

Bonnie vigorously nodded her head. Her fingers never stopped working her own little joystick.

"_How badly?"_

"So badly it hurts."

"_What will you do if I stop?"_

"I'll kill you that's what I'll do."

_Damon _grinned wolfishly and began to hammer away and then pinched that special bundle of nerves that sent Bonnie on a tailspin. All the veins in her neck became distended, showing on proud display. The lights of his bedroom flickered and then each individual bulb in his room exploded plunging the room into darkness.

The darkness ripped Bonnie out of her masturbatory fantasy and she looked around as if coming out of a trance. Panic immediately took over as Bonnie shot out of Damon's bed like a rocket and haphazardly trying to remake the bed. She didn't know what to do about all the busted light bulbs. She wasn't sure where the Salvatore boys kept supplies like that to begin with. Her scent drenched every single square foot of his room and no amount of air freshener or changing the sheets was going to mask it.

Bonnie slapped her forehead. "You are in such deep shit, Bonnie," she admonished herself. She picked up her clothes and hightailed it out of his bedroom. Without her knowing she left another small memento behind.

**Damon's eyes felt like sand paper. **A better analogy to use would be his eyes felt like the Gobi Desert at high noon during a severe drought with tumbleweed and dust dander thrown in. He was tired. He had spent the last fourteen hours driving straight from Miami. Damon had one friend—and he used that term very lightly— who had gotten himself into some serious shit with a coven of witches who was practically holding him hostage until he coughed up the twenty grand he stole from their casino.

First of all, Damon was no penny pincher by any means, but there was no way in the world he would have forked over that amount of cash without a blood contract. So that's what he wasted the last three days of his life doing—making negotiations, bartering, and doing everything aside from selling a kidney to get his "friend" Etienne Devereaux released.

All he wanted now was a tall glass of blood, a hot shower, and to sleep for the next week. Thankfully the house was quiet and from the sounds of things, empty. Damon checked the time on his cell. It was only a little after eleven and he wondered where the hell Bonnie was. Damon shrugged. She might be over at one of her friends' house or with stupid face Kol—by this point he was simply too tired to give a damn.

His legs felt like they were being weighed down by midgets as he stomped up to his room. He swung open his door and the first thing to smack him in the face was the pungent scent of sex.

Furious Damon flicked on his light but then nothing happened. He flicked the switch up and down a few more times and then saw shiny pieces of broken light bulb sprinkled on the bedside table, on the floor, and in his bathroom.

"The hell," he said and tentatively entered his room. The tiredness that was on his back was replaced with searing anger. "I know Stefan did not bring some whore to my room to screw," Damon seethed and took in a sharp breath of air and froze.

He recognized that scent, had licked that very scent off his fingers only a week ago. His eyes widened and he barely resisted punching his fist through the wall.

"No, she didn't," he said. "No. She. Didn't." Damon's eyes bled to red as he entered his closet, and retrieved a box of light bulbs. He quickly changed the one in his bedside lamp and light instantly flooded the room.

His pissed off eyes glared at his poorly made up bed. Damon cursed in Italian and Latin. "That bitch did not fuck another guy in my bed!"

Damon wrenched the covers backwards and lying innocently in the center of his bed was a pair of purple lace panties. He yanked them up and inhaled. Yep, they belonged to Bonnie, and when he inhaled the air of his room again to ascertain which little shit-head he was going to track down, kill, and mount his rotting head on his wall _after _draining the life out of Bonnie, he came up with…nothing.

Hun?

The only other scent Damon could detect in his room was his own.

He stared at her panties as if expecting them to explain what in the hell happened while he was away. So Bonnie came up to his room, crawled into his bed, and…masturbated? It seemed plausible since her scent was the strongest in the middle of his bed and he did feel a little bit of her lubrication in the seat of her underwear. So that begged the question of…where was she now?

Damon grinned at her underwear and stuffed them in his pant pocket. His anger shifted from murderous rampage to "oh I gotchu now".

"**Bonnie…why are you whispering?" **Lucy questioned from the static end of her cell phone. Currently she was on Route 1 in the middle of nowhere, where the closest cell phone tower was probably was two states over.

"Because I don't want anyone to hear me. Lucy, I messed up."

"What did you do?" Lucy asked calmly because she could detect the rising hysteria in Bonnie's voice.

"Damon is out of town and I was missing him so I went up to his room and I may have gotten a little frisky with myself and my scent is all over the place and he's going to figure out what I've done, and come looking for me. If he finds me I'm going to cave. I'm going to let him fuck me because I'm too weak to say no."

"Okay, Bon, you need to sit down somewhere and breathe. This situation is completely rectifiable."

"HOW!" Bonnie shrieked. "You told me to make myself unavailable and I'm doing the total opposite. Lucy, a week ago I basically forced his fingers in me and he…you know."

Lucy whistled lowly, too low for her cousin to hear. "You've got it bad."

"Yeah, no shit Usher. What am I supposed to do? I can't go back to the boardinghouse. Ever." Bonnie paced madly back and forth across the creaking floorboards. She hated being in this house but this was the only safe place she could think to come to.

"When is he coming back?"

Bonnie shrugged and realized her cousin couldn't see her. "I don't know. He wasn't sure how long he'd be out of town."

"Okay so that gives you some time to get rid of any and all evidence."

"Lucy, he could be on his way back, hell he might already be back and if he is…I am so totally screwed. I don't know why I couldn't just take myself to my own room. To do what I did on his bed I pretty much painted a huge target on my back."

"Bonnie, you can still salvage this. If Damon does come back tonight and he questions you about it, admit what you did, but let him know it was a slip and it changes nothing between you."

Bonnie wiped the sweat off her forehead. The air of the old witches' mansion was stale and stifling. The few candles she had burning only served to add more heat to the room.

"I don't think he's going to buy it. I already used that excuse. Lucy…I shattered all the light bulbs in his room that's how hard I came."

There was silence on the other end and Bonnie thought for a second their connection might have been dropped.

"Hello?"

"I'm here," Lucy came back on the line. "Damn girl you _are _in trouble."

Bonnie sighed exasperatedly and then froze. Had she just heard another set of tires pull up to the mansion? She crept over to the filthy windows and tried her best to peer out. The only thing which greeted her was darkness.

"I should have left well enough alone. Damon and I…we're never going to be what we were in my dreams."

Lucy sucked her teeth. "Bonnie, now isn't the time to start doubting yourself. Okay so you had two slips it doesn't mean that the chase is over and that you have to give in. Obviously the two of you have yet to kiss. With everything in life those small little milestones still have to be earned. So what you tweaked your pocketbook in his bed, who hasn't? That doesn't mean he's won a golden ticket to visit your chocolate factory."

Despite the situation Bonnie laughed but only a little. "But what am I supposed to do when I see him? I see myself melting into a puddle of humiliation or bursting out into tears and running in the opposite direction."

Lucy was quiet for a moment while she thought of a contingency plan. "Okay, here's what you do. There's a spell which can keep a person from being able to find you. Kind of like hiding in plain sight. I'll teach it to you. Once it's done go stay with one of your friends, preferably Matt. He doesn't like Damon and he won't be inclined—if asked—to tell him where you are. This will buy you some time to get your head screwed on straight."

Bonnie felt the anxiety that had plagued her from the time she flew apart in Damon's bed to driving like she knocked off several banks begin to dissipate.

"And when you're ready," Lucy continued, "_you _go to Damon first and boldly say 'yes, I masturbated in your bed. What are you going to do about it _if _you can do anything at all?' The implication alone will get under his skin and reroute his plan to use that against you to _his _advantage."

Bonnie in that moment felt like her cousin was a neurosurgeon. She was too keen for her own good. "Luc…if you were standing here right now I'd kiss your brain."

Lucy laughed on the other end. "A thank you will suffice. I gotta run. There's a possum giving me dirty looks."

"Okay. Thank you so much."

"No problem, baby girl. That's what I'm here for. Remember…everything will work out in your favor just keep your standards in place. All right?"

"I got you."

"Good. Until next time. Peace."

"I'll talk to you later, Lucy."

**He searched high **and he searched low and he couldn't find that damn witch no matter where he went. He called her cell phone and it went straight to her voice mail. Damon tracked down the doppelganger and she had been with Alaric doing whatever it was they did on a Thursday night. Caroline had been of no help either. Damon broke down and called Jeremy who also had seen no sign of Bonnie.

So this prompted Damon to climb into his car and scour the streets for her. He went to her house—wasn't there. Her grandmother's house—no luck. He didn't think she'd go out to the site where the hundred witches were burned but he drove over there anyways, and caught a faint trace of her scent, but Bonnie had been long gone. Frustrated Damon went back home hoping she might be there waiting to explain why she violated his bed.

And once again the boardinghouse was empty save Stefan had shown back up. "Have you talked to Bonnie at all tonight?" Damon asked and poured himself a whiskey on the rocks.

"Yeah, earlier. She was reading smut. Why?"

Damon looked at his brother bemused and took a sip of his drink. "She broke all the light bulbs in my room," Damon replied.

Stefan wasn't seeing the crime that in Damon's opinion had been committed. "So?"

"So she needs to explain to me how it happened."

"Well how do you know she did it to begin with? The rest of the house has power and I don't see any broken light bulbs."

Damon dropped his eyes to his boots and snickered. "Her scent was all over my room." It was hard to keep the grin off his face.

"Great," Stefan said and headed up to his boudoir. This conversation was turning completely useless to him. "When she gets home tell her I'm going to put her over my knee for breaking your light bulbs. She knows the elderly needs all the light they can get to read their AARP magazine."

Damon wanted to kick Stefan's teeth in but he had to admit his brother was funnier now that he was in the in between—no longer ripper but no longer St. Stefan either.

Alone with his thoughts, Damon took a seat in his favorite chair and stared at the front door. She would have to come back at some point and he would pounce the moment she did.

Night shifted into morning and Damon finally blinked his eyes when he heard the birds chirping outside. All night he had remained in that chair and his back, legs, and neck was stiff because of it. Bonnie never showed up. He checked his phone to see if he might have missed her call. Nothing. Groaning he rose from the chair and climbed the stairs to his room.

When he woke up it was late afternoon. Damon could hear Stefan downstairs and he was talking to Blondie and the doppelganger yet Bonnie's voice was noticeably absent from the group. Going through his morning routine, Damon joined the others downstairs. How cute, they actually had school books open attempting to be studious.

Everyone grumbled their hello to him to which Damon didn't reply. He was more interested in fixing his first of many drinks and getting to the bottom of Bonnie's disappearing act. He noticed that no one was freaking out about her sudden absence and that led him to believe they knew exactly where she was.

As casually as he could, Damon asked, "Hey has anyone seen or talked to Bonnie today? I need her expert opinion on something."

Caroline and Elena exchanged the briefest of looks whereas Stefan merely kept his eyes planted on the book lying across his lap.

"I haven't talked to her," Elena admitted.

"Did you see her?" Damon persisted.

Again the two girls exchanged glances and it was getting on Damon's nerves.

"I'm sure I did. We have two classes together," Elena hedged and went back to studying.

Now he was irritated and let it come out in his voice. "Okay is _something _going on that you all have conspired to keep from me. Where the hell is Bonnie!"

"Hey," Stefan finally rose his nose out of the book. "There's no need to get loud. She's busy and she'll turn up eventually."

"Are you freaking serious?" Damon held his hands out. "She'll turn up eventually? What if she got into a car crash or slipped into a coma again? Or she was abducted by those stupid Mikaelsons?" that thought alone made a chill run down his spine. Kol had been sniffing after Bonnie though she constantly rebuffed him. And Klaus was always up to something. Damon wanted to knee himself in the balls for overlooking the fact Bonnie may have been intercepted by the Brothers Grimm.

But surely if Bonnie had been taken, Klaus or Kol would have called him up and gloated about it.

He continued with his original grievance, though. "None of you, her so called friends," he used air quotation marks to emphasize the word, "seems overly concerned about her whereabouts."

"Because obviously we know she's safe," Caroline retorted.

"How do you know that if you haven't seen nor talked to her? Does that assumption make a lick of sense?"

"We just know," Elena said with a hint of finality to her words. Damon pierced all of them with a cold glare before slamming down the glass tumbler almost shattering it into pieces. He snatched up his car keys and went out on another search for Bonnie Bennett.

Hours later he returned empty-handed and the house once again was vacant. Damon pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and debated if he should call Liz and file a missing person's report. Bonnie had to be somewhere. Somebody had to have seen her.

But then suddenly Damon wondered why he cared. Bonnie wasn't his girlfriend. His sister. She was just some chick who laid up in his house for four months rent free. He felt his burgeoning helplessness turn into apathy. He was still burnt out from his trip across America. The last thing he needed to do was lose his mind trying to find a teenager. Bonnie would come out of hiding once she figured the dust had settled. And once she did _then _he'd do as his brother said, he'd put her over his knee and spank the rebelliousness out of her.

Content with his decision, Damon once again went back up to his room. Once there he stripped down to his birthday suit but grabbed a pair of pajama bottoms. Climbing into bed, Damon stared up at the ceiling and wondered how many hours Bonnie spent in his room. As much as he should feel offended his personal space, his sanctuary had been violated in his absence, when he thought of who did the violating he just couldn't follow through with his anger.

Damon snorted as he thought over the girls he had been with. And they were just that—girls. They all had a hint of immaturity and he tricked himself into believing that's what he wanted. He wanted someone carefree and easy going and who wouldn't ask too many questions. Mainly because he had been nothing but one huge ball of irresponsibility himself.

Now Damon felt as if he were maturing like finely aged cognac. He actually had standards now—if you could believe it. Hotness in a woman could only carry her so far. She needed brains and a spine if she wanted a snowball's chance in hell with him.

Unfortunately the meat market in Mystic Falls didn't offer a lot of options.

And how ironic that the one person who actually challenged his experience and authority lied not fifty feet from his door but had been in a coma.

But Bonnie was awake now. However, did he really want to go there with her? He used one of her best friends as a sex slave, the other he loved obsessively for two years.

Yet, as he thought about it, maybe somewhere down the road he slapped Bonnie on a pedestal with no way to reach her. She was everything he didn't like: self-righteous, had a conscience, and actually demanded he pay for his mistakes. She did not follow the: Let's give Damon a pass because he's hot policy. And that more than anything got on his nerves.

However, Bonnie had done more than change her appearance. She was making him take notice of what had always been there. A girl on the cusp of womanhood with secrets and mysteries hidden under the layers of her skin.

Yet all of this was such an odd feeling for Damon. When he thought of the sum total of his life he never really had a girlfriend. Girls were always around—yes—and they were "friends" for the moment, sure, but he never had a girl strictly be into him because _of _him with no ulterior motives.

Suddenly his mind took a turn towards his past, not a place he liked to visit often. But he was thinking circa 1942 New Orleans where he met and turned a beautiful brunette named Charlotte. Damon had had a ball breaking her in and showing her the ropes of being a vampire, but some niggling feeling in the back of his head told him there wasn't something quite right about Charlotte. Every man fancied himself wanting a woman to do everything he said, jumped at the snap of his fingers, but Charlotte literally did _whatever _he told her to. Back then Damon thought it was a sweet deal, but when something seemed too good to be true that meant it was.

For the first time in his life Damon felt that he was in charge. He was the one who made the rules and Charlotte had been an excellent student. The sex was amazing, she matched him in blood lust, and had adopted easily to his exhibitionist lifestyle. Sure there were little hiccups here and there, but they were all manageable.

Then suddenly things changed. Charlotte's "love" for him turned into obsession. Damon recalled those nights of waking up in the middle of the night to find Charlotte pulling an Edward Cullen, seemingly watching him as he slept for no damn reason. It creeped him the hell out until he told her to stop. She did that very same night. Didn't even try to argue with him. Her exact words to him had been:

"Whatever you say, Damon. I only live to make you happy."

And then, when he would return to their townhome in the Quarter, he would come home to several women bleeding from the neck. Gifts, Charlotte said they were, hoping he'd be impressed with her ingenuity, which was all fine and good, but then Charlotte started targeting guys who bore an eerie resemblance to him. After a while, Damon couldn't go anywhere, couldn't turn around, hell he couldn't even scratch his balls without Charlotte invading his personal space.

After a few months and an incident where she snapped a guys neck because Damon told her not to let anyone take his seat at the bar, Damon was ready to cut her loose. So he packed amid Charlotte crying a river, begging him not to leave her. He said he'd come back as soon as she counted every single brick that made up their building. Damon left and he never looked back.

But she was it in terms of being his girlfriend. Damon wondered if he'd ever have a balanced relationship in his life.

Damon sighed and reached under his pillow and withdrew Bonnie's underwear. In his mind he imagined how she looked wearing them. Well he made a vow to himself that he would find out for himself one day. She could try to cock block all she liked but in the end it wouldn't make a difference one way or the other.

**The sound of the knife **running through his victim was similar to someone cutting into a cantaloupe. The deadly weapon had been a gift from a friend of a friend and had served him well in keeping him alive all these years. Placing his hand over the nose and mouth of the man crumpled on the ground to silence the sound of his groaning and moaning, dark brown eyes looked around the parking garage. He could feel the shadows moving like a herd of hyenas looking for the perfect opening to strike.

He allowed a small smirk to curl his lip, but it quickly vanished the second the man bleeding on the ground lost consciousness. He wouldn't die. At least not yet. This was the dirty side to this life, not one the hunter exactly relished but knew it was all a violent means to a violent end.

Withdrawing the knife, he heard a sharp gasp pierce the night air. Little crimson drops fell on the concrete beneath his feet, and the hunter stood up and slowly backed away from the body. Bait, he told himself. The person unwittingly sacrificing his life was bait.

The hunter knew they were out there. He predicted three but there could always be more. And these were newborn vampires who had little to zero control on their blood lust. They wouldn't be able to resist feeding even though they had been ordered to take him out by their maker. The hunter understood vampire philosophy very well: never pass up a free meal even _if _your life might be in grave danger.

He backed away into a darkened corner and waited. Before he stabbed the man he had pumped him with enough vervain that it could possible kill whatever vampire sank his elongated teeth into him almost instantly.

The sound of an object passing through the air at an inhuman speed rushed into the hunter's ears. He ducked down and watched as all three vampires circled the bleeding man for a moment before sinking to their knees to go in for the kill.

The sound that followed next was savage and would have turned anyone's stomach, but it only made the hunter grimace in disgust. He counted down inside of his head waiting for the vampires to come to the startling realization they had just been duped and fell for the oldest trick in the book.

One by one they all reared back, gasping and grabbing their throats foolishly thinking that would be one way to stop the deadly mix of vervain from sliding down their esophagus's and inevitably entering their bloodstream.

They crawled like infants across the parking garage with blood coating their mouths. The hunter rose from his hiding position and moved with agile quickness to stake them in the heart. In less than a minute he had stabbed two leaving him just the one to kill. They had been young indeed, no more than twenty when they were made, and had only been vampires for probably less than a year. He didn't care about them, but hell the more vampires he wiped off the face of the earth the better.

For the third he approached slowly. The third didn't drink as much poisoned blood and would probably make a full recovery within a few hours if he managed to escape, but he wouldn't. The hunter needed him alive because the vampire had information. Information about his maker. The goal had always been to take out the makers. They were proverbial crime bosses in the hunter's world.

Placing his heavy boot on the chest of the scrambling vampire, the hunter aimed his Beretta that was filled with wooden bullets. Two to the heart would end the vampire for good.

"Who's your daddy?" the hunter asked and applied a little pressure from his boot on the groaning vampire.

Instead of answering, the vampire spat out a wad of blood and saliva that landed on the jeans of the hunter.

"Wrong answer."

_Bang! Bang! _Two shots to the leg.

"Arrrggghhhh!" the vampire roared, angry red wiggling lines danced wildly underneath black and blue eyes.

"I can do this all night," the hunter promised. "Who. Is. Your. Daddy?"

The vampire started to laugh despite the fact his insides felt like they were being torched and pricked with needles simultaneously.

"Kill me and another will take my place. But who made me should be the _least _of your worries, asshole. There's a new breed in town."

"If you're referring to hybrids…we know all about those motherfuckers."

All humor fled from the vampire's face.

"So once again I'm going to ask you a real simple question: who is your deadbeat father?"

The vampire smiled, "Who said anything about me being a daddy's boy?"

**Delicate fingers traced** the elegant slope of his jaw. The fingers then began to skim down his throat, over his Adam's apple, descending to his chest where the palm touched his heart. A single sturdy shake made Damon groan. He balled his Egyptian cotton sheet in his hand and tugged until it covered his face.

"Go away," he croaked.

"Wake up, Damon."

A black eyebrow rose in the air and Damon peeled open his left eye and stared at the other occupant in his bed. Probing pea green eyes buried within the soft confines of a caramel face with appealing features stared openly back at him.

"Where the hell have you been?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes, pursed her lips, and slapped his chest. "What a lovely way to start a conversation."

"I'm not playing with you, Bonnie. You've been gone for the last two days. So where the hell have you been?"

Bonnie shrugged. "I was staying at a friend's house."

"Which friend?" and at the last second Damon realized he sounded too much like a jealous boyfriend.

She looked at him with those doe-eyes of hers. So innocent. "You know all of my friends, Damon," she replied lowly.

With lightning fast reflexes Damon attempted to pounce on Bonnie but she moved as fast as a vampire and when he blinked he saw her standing on the far side of the room next to the partially open drapes.

"I don't want to fight with you, Damon."

He climbed out of his bed. This time he wasn't naked but was wearing a clean pair of black satin pajama pants that hung low revealing that delicious V his hips made. Bonnie for her part tried to keep her eyes above his neck.

"That's too damn bad, Bonnie. I come home from the world's suckiest trip to find that you have been playing with your snatch in my bed and you don't come home for two days! It was like no matter where I tried to look for you I was _always _one step behind. And all of your useless friends were of no help. They didn't have the slightest clue where you were either, but all they could say was you were safe. Did you pull one of your little witchy ju-ju tricks?"

Bonnie kept her face neutral although on the inside she was snickering. He was so cute when he was jealous. She said nothing.

Damon nodded his head. "I figured as much. You were that scared to talk to me?"

"You would have tried to get me to own up to what I did and it wouldn't have been long after that you would have tried to get me on my back."

"Hey," he said flippantly. "You can't knock a man for trying."

Bonnie took a step forward. "This isn't a joke. You don't know why I've done any of the things I have done in the past week."

Damon heard the seriousness to her tone and decided to keep his jokes to a bare minimum. "So explain it to me, then because I'm confused. Before your coma you would have happily danced over my ashes and now…" he didn't need to finish his thought because Bonnie had lived through it.

"Now everything is different." Bonnie began to walk over to Damon throwing all of her womanly whiles into it. Damon raked his eyes over her now noticing that she looked exquisite in her black denim jeans, black knit top, and dark brown ankle boots. He could feel the heat of her body when she stood no more than a foot away from him.

Damon swallowed thickly.

"The Bonnie you knew, the one who was reserved yet outspoken, and yes judgmental although it was justified…well she died, Damon. I played it safe my entire life and I got caught up in the moment." Bonnie looked over at his bed and then brought her heart melting orbs back up at him. "But I'll never know anything about myself if I don't push myself. I'm sorry I used your bed to start a new chapter in my life. It won't happen again."

After hearing her spiel Damon wanted to tell her it was all right, she didn't _really _do anything wrong.

Bonnie held his gaze for a moment, saw the myriad of emotions that was reflected in his eyes, before turning to walk away.

Damon allowed her to take two steps before reaching out and detaining her by the arm. Bonnie stared down at their joined flesh before looking up at him.

"You keep walking away from me, Bonnie," his voice was almost gravelly. "Look, I don't care that you used my bed, I only care I wasn't here to help," he grinned. "But if you want to talk, and I think we should talk, I'm here."

Bonnie studied him for a moment. He wasn't being sarcastic but sincere. "Okay, Damon. We can talk. We can start this morning while you give me a ride to school."

Damon inclined his head but slid his hand down her arm until his fingers reached hers they entwined. Bonnie dropped her eyes to their joined hands and felt that rush, that electricity course through her, waking up all her dormant cells.

A crease formed in the center of Damon's head. He had felt the same thing as well and locked eyes with Bonnie.

"What's going on between us?" he asked almost reverently.

Bonnie shrugged, tightened her hold on his hand before releasing him. She sauntered over to the door yet hesitated before walking through it. She pivoted on her heels to stare at him.

"Whatever we want to happen. I'll be waiting for you downstairs, Mr. Salvatore."

Bonnie winked and disappeared.

Damon stared at the door before getting into action. But then he froze. "Do-do I have a crush on her?" he asked the four walls of his room. "Nah," he said and headed over to the shower.

**Six inch Farragamo pumps **clicked softly against the asphalt while a pair of dark brown eyes stared at the bloody massacre. Red painted nails began to dig trenches in her skin as she balled her hands into tight fists wanting to lash out and destroy the first thing to come skittering across her path. So much waste! So much potential now ruined and for what?

The hunters were back and their methods seemed to have evolved from the days of olde; that was for sure. They valued their secrecy just as much, if not more, than vampires so to leave behind the evidence of a trap…

Either they were cocky or sloppy. She was having a difficult time deciding on which. But it didn't matter. Three of her vampires were gone. Her favorite among them.

The woman kneeled down beside the bloody remains of, well, she hadn't exactly given them titles but if she had she would have considered this one her general. He had been the first person she ever turned, and through him she had given not only herself a new identity but him as well. But damn it if he didn't remind her of the one who made her.

Gently she wiped at the blood that was splattered across his face. "Its okay, Damon…mommy will make everything okay."

Chapter end.

**A/N: Now who could this be? Any guesses, lol. I think it would be different to see a woman obsessed with Damon instead of it always being the other way around. How all of this will come into play, well you'll just have to see. I know there wasn't much Bamon interaction this chapter, but if you remember this story you know its coming. Thank you guys again for reading and leaving me your thoughts. Until next time…love you!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: So I noticed in the reviews for last chapter that some of you took a guess at who was that vampire at the end. Some were right, others not so much. The answer to that particular question won't be revealed in this update because this is Bonnie's bday chapter! Yeah! Enjoy.**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

_**-Look at him. Such a young, brooding face. He must be an actor. What am I talking about? An actor in Mystic Falls? Yeah right-**_

_**-Oh my god! I just want to take a bite out of his…-**_

_**-He looks so lonely. I wonder what has him down. Maybe I should go over and ask if he's all right. Maybe he lost someone. A girlfriend more than likely—**_

The voices in his head had returned. Nero Stathopoulous otherwise known as Aleksander Stavros tried to shrink even farther down in the booth at Mystic Grill as if willing himself to become invisible. He was a little over thirteen the first time hearing voices manifested. That wasn't normal. Nero had been petrified, thought himself possessed by some demonic force. The only person he confided his secret too had been his ya-ya who patiently explained to him he had The Gift.

The gift of reading human minds. Once he heard that he thought his grandmother had been out of _her _mind. He didn't want to be a freak. He didn't want to be different from his family, from his friends, from total strangers, but he was.

Still to this day Nero wanted to deny the fact that he sprouted from the branch of the family tree born with exemplary gifts that dated back to the times of Agamemnon—at least that was the tale his grandmother tried to spin. Nero never breathed a word of what he could do, but he learned to block the voices and thoughts of others until finally one day he couldn't hear someone think something before they spoke out loud.

Now it would seem his "gift" had returned and it only added to his uneasiness about being in this situation: orphaned and living on foreign sand.

He had been a citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia for three weeks, and he was no closer to striking up the courage to pull Bonnie Bennett aside and ask her the questions that were burning the tip his tongue. He had heard nothing from Misha Christova, which Nero figured was just as well. He didn't know the man enough to confide in him about anything, and he was one less headache to deal with.

**-I'm going to die—**

That last voice caught his attention—sharply. Nero looked across the restaurant and saw a woman sitting alone at a table near the entrance. She sat gazing aimlessly out of the window as she played with a button on her violet sweater. Nero kept his lime colored eyes on the woman, penetrating the hidden barriers within her mind. What he soon discovered was that her thoughts were as scattered as the pieces of stray hairs that had come out of her messy ponytail.

Nero knew that prying into a person's private thoughts was gravely unethical, but was it really his fault if someone was a good broadcaster and he couldn't help but to "overhear". He wondered why the woman thought she was going to die, and before he could comb through her thoughts, someone was looming next to his table.

Looking up he slapped what he hoped was a convincing smile on his face. He recognized the blonde hair, blue-eyed girl as Caroline Forbes, the social director of Mystic Falls High, and one of Bonnie Bennett's best friends.

"Hi, you're Aleksander Stavros, right?"

Nero was getting used to answering to that name although his first instinct was to correct the person. He simply nodded.

"Caroline Forbes," she said and extended a hand. Nero shook it noticing she had a _very _strong grip. "Nice to finally meet you. I've seen you around and I've wanted to introduce myself, but you…" Caroline flashed another smile. "You always manage to get missing. Must be a gift."

Nero scratched the space behind his ear, nervously. "Pleased to meet you, Caroline," he said graciously, and then held out a hand towards the empty padded booth across from him in invitation for Caroline to join him.

She did, smiling, showing all of her perfectly capped teeth. Caroline sat her purse and soda glass on the table. "I hope I don't come off as being well…nosy, but I don't really see you hanging out with anyone. I've never been the new kid so I can only imagine what that must feel like…coming into a new environment. Plus your accent," Caroline slapped her hands on the table, "hot!"

Nero felt his body heating with embarrassment.

Caroline continued, purposely ignoring Nero's discomfiture. "Were you born in Greece?"

"I was, but I moved to Long Island to stay with an uncle after my parents…died."

Sadness but then something else entered Nero's eyes. Caroline felt a subject change was in order. Besides, his story sounded eerily similiar to Stefan's when he first came marching into town.

"I know Mystic Falls must seem extremely behind the times in comparison to New York and Greece, and I would love to visit both of those places one day," Caroline took a breath. "Sorry for rumbling. You're probably wondering why I'm bothering you, and it's to invite you to my friend Bonnie's eighteenth birthday party. It's being held tomorrow night at the Salvatore Boardinghouse. It's right off Graymalkin Lane. Do you know where that is?"

"No unfortunately," Nero replied sheepishly. "I'm still learning my way around."

"Well, it's located just a mile or so outside of town. I can give you directions, I mean, if you're interested in coming. You have a history class with Bonnie, right?"

"I do. She seems like a nice girl. Do you think she would mind if a stranger is invited to her party? We talk sometimes but we don't know each other all that well."

Caroline waved a dismissive hand in the air. "Bonnie will be totally cool with you coming. Trust me when I say she won't mind having a _hot_ guy at her birthday party. So are you interested?"

Nero thought for a moment. If he went, it might be his opportunity to talk to Bonnie, question her. But then again, he wasn't sure if he was ready for that kind of social gathering, that kind of exposure. He liked the idea of keeping people in the dark, but then again he was tired of feeling lonely. Making a few friends here and there wouldn't hurt, and Nero had been reared in an environment where he was always surrounded by people. The constant isolation was getting to him.

Decision made, Nero nodded his head. "Count me in."

**-Bonnie is gonna freak!—**was Caroline's private thought that Nero heard.

"Great!" Caroline took a sip of her soda. "You won't need to bring anything, just you. Here is my number. I'll text you directions," she grabbed her purse and slid out of the booth. "It was nice meeting you Aleksander. Hope to see you tomorrow."

"You will, oh, Caroline?"

"Yes?"

Nero laid his hand flat on the table, the hand that held his family signet ring. Caroline's eyes dropped to the piece of jewelry and widened a bit but she gave nothing off. Nero saw the change to her face and wondered what she was thinking. It was hard resisting the urge to listen to her thoughts, but he managed and kept his mental block in place.

"Do you know if Bonnie knows anyone by the name of Misha Christova?"

"No," Caroline answered quickly.

"Are you sure?"

"I know everyone Bonnie knows and neither one us knows anyone by that name. Why?"

Nero decided to blind her with the brilliance of his smile. Caroline's head tilted to the side as she saw the sadness and loneliness seemingly evaporate off his face as it was replaced with unbridled handsomeness. His flat green eyes were lit with a prism of light that made Caroline feel like she had taken a blow to her abdomen. The five o'clock fuzz around his jaw stretched to accommodate his cardinal red lips. If she wasn't happily taken, Caroline would have made a go for Nero herself. She always had a thing for guys with ink-black hair and green eyes and who looked like Armani underwear models.

"No reason," Nero replied. "Just curious is all."

Caroline blinked a few times as if clearing fog from her mind. "I can ask her. What does she look like?"

"Misha is male, but it doesn't matter. Thank you for inviting me," Nero turned up the wattage in his smile to throw Caroline off his scent again.

"Sure no problem," Caroline beamed in return. "Have a good night, Aleksander."

"You as well, Caroline."

Nero watched as she walked off to some other part of the restaurant. Picking up the spoon to stir his now cold coffee, Nero placed his elbows on the table, but then brought his eyes back to the woman he had been studying earlier.

Her seat was empty.

**The following morning the door to her **bedroom slowly opened and Bonnie tried to tune out the sound of two pairs of feet drawing closer to her bed.

"Stop pretending to be asleep, birthday girl. Get up!" Caroline screeched and ripped the pillow Bonnie was snuggling against away from her.

Bonnie growled and opened her eyes and glared at her blond friend who was too busy beaming.

Elena crawled up behind her and started hopping up and down on the bed. Bonnie blindly reached for another pillow and attempted to swat Elena with it.

"For someone being so grouchy on her birthday I don't think she deserves a third of the presents that are waiting for her downstairs," said Caroline.

Bonnie instantly rose into a sitting position. "Presents?" she said excitedly.

"Yep," Elena replied. "But I'm going to have to agree with Caroline that if your attitude doesn't improve you don't get to open up a single one."

"Oh, don't be cruel," Bonnie moaned and then rolled out of bed revealing her hot pink shirt that had the number 18 emblazoned on the front in large white letters. "See my mood is improving already. I'm going to freshen up."

"You do that," Caroline advised and took Bonnie's spot on the bed. "Hey, I invited someone special to your party tonight."

"Who?" Bonnie asked from the bathroom.

"You'll have to wait and see."

"That's not fair."

Elena interjected herself into the conversation. "Well, no one said life was fair."

When Bonnie returned to the room with her face scrubbed clean, teeth brushed, and her hair combed, she placed her hands on her hips. "It's not Kol is it?"

Both Caroline and Elena pulled faces, but Caroline said, "Why would we invite an Original to your birthday party? We might make stupid decisions, but we're not _that_ dumb. Give us some credit."

Bonnie held out her hands in surrender format. "All right. Onward march downstairs."

Her birthday party wasn't until evening but it was decided she'd open her gifts beforehand so she wouldn't have to deal with any haters.

Bonnie's eyes widened when she saw the plethora of shopping bags from some of her favorite stores pilled up on one end of the formal dining room table.

"Those are from your dad," Elena explained as she watched Bonnie finger some of the bags only taking a cursory peek inside.

Bonnie wrinkled her nose. Her dad more than likely reached out to Caroline for her opinion on what to get her because it was kind of public knowledge that Caroline dressed her from time to time. She'd look at everything later.

Caroline held out a small gift box. "It's from me and Elena."

Bonnie smiled at both of her friends and opened the cellophane wrapped box to reveal a diamond encrusted charm in the shape of a B.

"It's for your anklet," Elena added.

"Thank you," Bonnie gushed and hugged both of her friends. They also had given her a bouquet of her favorite flowers, and gift cards to her favorite apparel stores.

"There she is," Stefan said. "The birthday girl."

Bonnie smiled at him and at Damon who merely held up his glass of whiskey. Their talk had solved nothing between them.

A black box with a red ribbon tied around it caught Bonnie's attention. She reached for the object, pulled the bow loose and opened up the case. "The hell," Bonnie lamented and revealed to her friends, a diamond choker.

"_Who_ is that from?" Caroline demanded.

Bonnie found a card stuffed into one of the side pockets of the case. She read it aloud. "Dear Miss Bennett please accept this token as a showing of my fondness and affinity for young, talented, and beautiful witches. Here before you are eighteen certified diamonds and one for luck. Wishing you all the best on your birthday. May you experience many more. Best regards, Klaus Mikaelson."

Everyone's jaw hit the floor. Caroline snatched the card out of Bonnie's hand. "This is from Klaus! How did he even find out about your birthday?"

Elena stared at her friend drolly. "Oh, I don't know it might have something to do with the ad you placed in the Sunday newspaper."

"Oops," Caroline said sheepishly.

Damon didn't know what to make of the fact that Klaus of all people would dip his hand in his pocket and buy some chick he barely knew an expensive diamond necklace. Damon had known excess his whole life and appraised the necklace to be worth a little over fifty thousand dollars. He was hoping Bonnie would see this as an obvious bribe and not accept his gift because Klaus never did anything without that person paying some type of price.

"Clearly he wants something from you, Bonnie," Damon interjected to dispel the building glee and euphoria that was beginning to choke him.

Elena and Caroline stared at him as if they wished they could vaporize him yet he kept his gaze on Bonnie who appeared to be in deep contemplation.

After a while she said, "He's right." Bonnie snapped the box closed and then slid it over to Elena who immediately became puzzled. "I'm making a charitable contribution to your mom's foundation. Pawn the stupid thing and use the money to do some _real _good."

Caroline was stupefied. "You're going to listen to Damon who's probably jealous?"

Damon's eyes narrowed on the blonde vampire. He had no reason to be jealous of anything because it wasn't Klaus' bed Bonnie got herself off in, nor was it Klaus' fingers that played in her snatch.

"Bon…are you sure? This is a really nice gift," said Elena for confirmation.

"I don't want to give anyone in the Mikaelson clan leverage over me. Damon's right. This could be a bribe because why would he just decide to give me of all people a diamond necklace? And I'm not going to buy into him being old fashioned as an excuse. He could have sent me text message. That would have sufficed."

"All right," Elena tapped her fingers on the box. Her friend's willpower was much stronger than hers because come on, what girl could resist diamonds?

"Well," Bonnie hedged. "Maybe I could take a few pictures wearing it. You know for the memories."

Caroline smiled shyly and then clapped her hands together. "Okay, let's get some food in you. Then it's off to the salon for a full day of beauty, and then it'll be time to party."

**Several hours later **two knocks sounded on Bonnie's bedroom door. "Who is it?"

"Your escorts for the evening."

Bonnie smiled at her reflection in the mirror yet didn't break from her task of putting lotion on her arms. "Come in."

Damon swung the door open not really sure what state of dress or lack thereof he might find Bonnie in. To his dismay and yet also to his pleasure she was fully dressed in a hot Versace number that he was more used to seeing in South Beach Miami, not in dreary old Mystic Falls. It was a diaphanous number with vibrant colors, and empire waist held together by thin spaghetti straps. Damon's eyes fell to her left leg which was revealed in a daring split. Her hair was wild and teased, her bangs left pin straight. On her feet was a pair of silver strappy sandals with jeweled detail and six inch stems. Damon gulped and felt the palms of his hands itching.

Of course downstairs he could hear Coldplay's "Paradise" loud and clear and the hook definitely described Bonnie to a tee. She definitely appeared as if she were a river nymph come to life enticing him to join her for an exotic life in the deep blue sea.

Stefan pushed his way into the room and his eyes bugged. "Someone call my heart surgeon 'cause I'm having palpitations!"

Bonnie chuckled and ignored him as she took another look in the mirror. "I won't bother to ask if you think I look okay."

"Okay?" Stefan said incredulously and walked up behind her so he could make eye contact with her in the mirror. "I think I should have bought you a thesaurus for your birthday," he whistled long and loud. "How long did it take you to get in that dress?" he asked.

"Two minutes. Why?"

Stefan's grin said he was up to no good. "I can probably get you out of it in less than that."

Bonnie turned around and popped him on the arm. She briefly flicked her eyes in Damon's direction to gage his response to his brother's words. On the surface Damon appeared completely unaffected but her eyes dipped to his hand and she noticed his fist was balled so tightly his knuckles were neon white.

"Am I going to have a problem with you, Salvatore?" Bonnie asked with a raised eyebrow. Stefan shook his head and then planted himself on the edge of her bed.

He stretched out a black lace garter. Bonnie stared at it and then at him. "What am I supposed to do with that? Am I stripping or something?" she snorted.

"If you want to," Stefan shrugged. "You know the running tradition of the south is to pin money on the person celebrating their birthday. And I know you don't want to ruin your dress so here is the alternative."

Yeah, Bonnie was sure that was his first thought when he decided to get her a garter, but Bonnie took it from Stefan and then slid it up her left leg.

Both brothers were shamelessly drooling.

After it was on, Stefan tapped his leg. "Put your foot up here."

Bonnie did as told and watched as Stefan slipped a hundred dollar bill in the garter. "Happy Birthday, B!"

Her eyes widened a bit as she stared at Ben Franklin staring back at her. "Thank you, Stefan."

Damon had had enough of this. Upon his approach Bonnie removed her foot from Stefan's leg who immediately began pouting. She turned to face the dark-haired Salvatore and couldn't ignore the hunger and slight jealously burning in his eyes. Her friendship with Stefan was…interesting to say the least. They teased one another, played practical jokes on each other, and actually horse played from time to time. It was a refreshing break from the hormone-driven merry go round she was on with Damon.

"My turn," Damon said and dropped to one knee. He forced her leg a little forward so it was bent at an angle; he wrapped his hand around her sculpted calf and stroked the muscle a little. Discreetly he placed a kiss to her knee cap before he slipped not one but two hundred dollar bills in her garter.

Bonnie felt butterflies take off in her stomach. She stared down at Damon and he was momentarily distracted with staring at her crotch. Heat crept up Bonnie's neck and she realized almost at the last second that if anyone were to come into the room right this second and saw Damon kneeling before her with his brother on the bed, they might have thought this was an orgy in the making.

Damon licked his lips. He was so close to her heat that if he leaned five inches closer, he could work his tongue between the opening of her dress. But Stefan was in the room and he certainly didn't want his little brother anywhere _around _when, not if, he ate Bonnie out. That was private.

"Thank you," Bonnie mumbled softly. He looked up at her, smirk in place.

Reluctantly Damon rose to his feet. "Are you ready to act surprised?"

Bonnie nodded her head. Her makeup was fabulous, hair—fierce, her accessories—trendy, her anticipation—off the charts.

Stefan got up from the bed and extended an arm. Damon did the same and Bonnie found herself in another Salvatore sandwich but once they reached the door, Damon pushed Stefan out into the hallway, and barred himself in Bonnie's room.

The younger Salvatore cursed and banged on the door.

"Give us a minute, Stefan," Damon directed at his brother.

Bonnie stared at Damon with an eyebrow raised in the air.

Damon didn't speak until he heard Stefan shuffle off to the end of the hallway, grumbling the whole time. "As tradition states…you're supposed to receive licks on your birthday," Damon alleged.

Naturally, Bonnie's mind went straight into the gutter where she was sure Damon's mind was already there with a folding chair and drinks.

Pushing away from the door, Damon approached Bonnie until his mid-section made contact with the hills of her breasts. Bonnie swallowed thickly as she held his heated gaze, never wavering, never giving into the urge to look away.

Damon cupped her cheek and then, led that same hand on a trail down her neck until he passed his thumb over her hardening nipple.

"Eighteen in total and I plan to give them to you later…tonight."

Bonnie's mouth was dry, her head feeling disconnected. _Say something. _

"Only eighteen?"

"I can give as many as you like."

Bonnie wanted to fan herself. "I'm a screamer," she confessed and then wanted to smack herself. That was the wrong thing to say.

However, it was the right thing Damon wanted to hear. "I hope so," he graced her with his notorious smirk that made his face even more attractive than it currently was. Damon extended his arm. "Ready?"

Not really, not after hearing his plans for her later. Bonnie wanted to skip to the end of the night. They left her bedroom and met up with Stefan at the top of the stairs with pursed lips.

The crowd that was packed like sardines on the lower level of the Salvatore house overwhelmed Bonnie because she honestly didn't know half of the people who were staring intently at her.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" was shouted at her and Bonnie almost wanted to cushion her eardrums with cotton. She smiled and then released her hold on Stefan and Damon and was engulfed in the arms of her close friends.

Music started and people already armed with red plastic cups began scuffing up the hardwood floors. Bonnie certainly wasted no time getting her celebration started. She made a beeline for the bar and downed two Jell-O shots in quick succession. Her eyes searched the crowd and it was easy to spot Damon. He stood next to Ric the only other adult in attendance. She shifted her attention as Matt danced up to her. His eyes were already glassy and she figured he started drinking way before he showed up.

Matt pulled her into a massive hug and kissed her cheek, his cold saliva made her wince. "Happy Birthday, Bonnie. I got you a card."

"You didn't have to, Matt," Bonnie accepted the Hallmark card, ripped open the red envelope and laughed when she saw it was a Hello Kitty birthday card. "Cute," she deadpanned and read the crudely scribbled words inside. Matt took her by the hand and pulled her to the center of the room. Bonnie was surprised to say the least because Matt was not a dancer and usually came up with every excuse in the book to get out of it. However, with the alcohol coursing through his system it certainly loosened up the muscles he hardly used.

A cold arm snaked around Bonnie's waist. She felt the cold vibration of the undead and craned her neck to peer over her shoulder. Amused bluish-gray orbs stared down at her. Bonnie tossed her head to and fro as "All of the Lights" by Kanye West poured from the speakers. It would appear she was destined to be in male sandwiches all night. Dancing between Matt and Stefan—two of her favorite people.

Damon watched the belle of the ball as she was traded from person to person, dancing with her friends, and with random people from her school. From the moment they came downstairs her smile never faltered. Her skin glowed as if it were kissed by the sun, she tossed her head back constantly whenever she laughed revealing that delicious and graceful neck of hers. Her breasts looked awesome in the dress she was wearing and had felt even better in his hand. There wasn't a part of her he didn't want to touch, nibble, caress, or taste.

All day long he had questioned what he was doing with Bonnie. Some days he understood where they stood. Some days he felt they were moving too fast, other days too slow but figured it was all a matter of perception. He liked getting her hot and bothered, but he also liked making her laugh, pissing her off, getting on her nerves because that is what made them Bonnie and Damon.

But he replayed those moments standing in her bedroom watching her interaction with Stefan. Those two seemed _too _comfortable with each other. Stefan as of late had been saying and doing some pretty outlandish things and he wondered what his brother's motive was. Did Stefan have an interest in Bonnie? Did she feel the same way about him? Being clueless to these questions was slowly driving Damon insane.

He moved through the crowd after realizing he had been standing in one spot for far too long. Naturally vampires were predisposed to stay stationary until action was needed, but if you wanted to blend into human society you had to move around.

So he walked around the perimeter of the room, watching inebriated girls grind against one another or whatever dude was in the vicinity. Yet he kept his ears tuned to all things Bonnie. Now she was speaking with Alaric.

"I got you something. It's not a diamond necklace, but I think you'll like it."

Bonnie accepted the small royal blue velvet pouch from Alaric. "I'm guessing Caroline told you about Klaus' gift?"

Ric nodded his head. He was seated on the arm of the leather sofa that had been pushed out of the way. "You know, Care…she can't hold water. And it's pretty generous of you to give it away to charity."

Bonnie shrugged. She hadn't done it to get kudos from the community. Although the diamonds were certified to Bonnie they still represented illegal blood diamonds.

"I would never accept anything from the Mikaelson's other than an apology. Besides…where would I have worn it? The fanciest place I go is to the Lockwood mansion for fundraisers."

Alaric snorted and then indicated with his head for Bonnie to open her gift. She did and pulled out yet another necklace with a flower pendant that had a sphere shaped crystal in the middle. Bonnie stared at Ric questioningly.

He explained, "It's a sweet pea flower. Sweet pea is the flower for the month of April. The crystal is the cheap cousin of a diamond, but it's also so you can harness power. This is your very own talisman."

Bonnie's jaw dropped and she covered her mouth with her hand. "You got me…you got me a talisman."

Damon cursed inside his head. So far, he was blowing it when it came to giving Bonnie a rockin' birthday gift. So far he was 0 for 2. How the hell was his gift supposed to compete with a diamond necklace or a talisman? Now he kind of regretted not listening to Ric when he told him what he got Bonnie for her birthday. Damon certainly had the time to get the jump on Ric, but at the time something else had caught his attention.

"Thank you, Ric," Bonnie said and felt her nose tickle. She had made a deal with herself she wouldn't cry at her party.

Ric slipped the jewelry out of her hand and unclasped it. Bonnie turned around, lifted up her hair, and smiled when the cold metal grazed her skin. Ric quickly fastened the necklace and Bonnie released her hair.

She ran her fingers over the pendant. "So how do I use it?"

"Try to think of it as a conduit. I'm not exactly sure how it's supposed to work but maybe there's something in Emily's grimoire," he suggested.

"Or I could ask Lucy. Ric, you have no idea how much this means to me."

He nodded his head. He and Bonnie didn't share many close moments such as this one, but Ric wanted to show her that she was important to him and that he cared about her happiness. Bonnie felt a little awkward because this would have been the moment she'd lean over and hug him, but Alaric was her teacher and there were still certain boundaries they couldn't cross and certainly not in public.

She did reach for his hand and shook it although the gesture felt unnatural. His palm was warm and swallowed her entire hand. Bonnie had spent so much time touching vampires she forgot how hot humans could be. The heat pumping off Alaric's hand almost singed her.

"I'm glad you like it," Ric said and pulled his hand away.

"I love it. What made you even think to get me one?"

"It seemed it was time you have something of your own. It's time to branch out and see what you can do."

Now there was something which shamelessly never crossed her mind. For so long Bonnie just relied on the spells that had been created by her predecessors. Bonnie wasn't sure she was exactly ready to tackle on writing or doing her own magic. She didn't even know where to begin.

But the talisman was a starting point of sorts.

Bonnie thanked him again and went off to go show her friends.

Ric crowd surfed for a bit and then felt an ominous presence standing behind him. When he looked over his shoulder he wasn't surprised to find a frowning Damon Salvatore glaring at him.

"What?" Ric barked.

"I don't think it's appropriate for a teacher to give his young, impressionable students gifts."

Ric rolled his eyes and stood to his full height. Height was probably the only advantage he had over Damon and he took every opportunity he was given to stare down at the average height vampire.

"Let's not go there about what's appropriate Mr. I Seduce Teenage Girls For A Living."

Damon cocked a shoulder and grinned. "It's the best damn job I've ever had."

"You're just mad that you didn't think of the idea first. Well, in your face, Damon. If you actually paid any attention to Bonnie you would have realized that she was missing something every other witch in her family had. I'm going to grab another drink. Excuse me."

Damon watched Ric as he walked off. He didn't like what the teacher implied, that he paid no attention to Bonnie. Ha! Okay so up until a month ago that statement might have been partially true, but things were different now. Much different.

He searched the crowd for Bonnie. He didn't see her anywhere inside so he tracked her scent. Bonnie had stepped outside.

Outside two food stations had been set up. If you wanted sushi you could get it prepared at the Hibachi grill. If that wasn't your thing, you could help yourself to as much old fashioned barbeque as you could handle. Tiki torches burned along the perimeter of the great lawn as wrought iron tables were sprinkled throughout.

However, if you weren't feeling particularly famished you could get your picture taken with a lion, cheetah, or leopard cub. Yep, he and Stefan had exotic animals imported from the state zoo which made special appearances at birthday parties, wedding receptions, or bar mitzvahs for a steep price.

Currently Bonnie was bottle feeding a lion cub with Stefan standing right behind her like they were proud parents or something.

"This is so wild," Bonnie gushed as the feisty three-month old lion aptly named Nala attacked the nipple of the bottle.

"We wanted your eighteenth birthday to be unforgettable," Stefan told her and scratched the large ears of the animal.

"It's certainly that. No one has _ever _done anything of this magnitude for me. I'm having a hard time believing all of this is real."

"It is real. You want me to prove it?"

"If you're offering to pinch me you can forget it."

He chuckled.

The lion did a mini-roar of impatience at the slow flow of the bottle. It swatted its paw at the object and almost knocked it out of Bonnie's hands. The animal keeper was dutifully watching Bonnie looking for signs the animal was becoming agitated or distressed and would revert to attack-kill mode. But so far the bottle feeding was going good and a few minutes later, the animal stopped suckling, and licked the spilled drops of milk from its mouth and whiskers.

Bonnie kissed it on the crown on the head before passing it back to the handler. Stefan casually threw an arm around Bonnie's shoulder.

"What's next, chief? More dancing?"

Bonnie vigorously nodded her head. And that's where Damon intercepted her. He pushed Stefan away from Bonnie. "You can't hog the birthday girl all night," Damon admonished and took Bonnie by the hand, linking their fingers together.

Bonnie said nothing as Damon led her back inside. And just as they positioned themselves in the middle of the room, the DJ decided to slow things down and began spinning Corinne Bailey Rae's "Just Like A Star".

Damon wormed his arms around Bonnie's back as she placed hers on his shoulders and then twirled the hair on the nape of his neck with her fingers. He drew her as physically close as possible that it was difficult to see where one began and the other ended. Damon tunneled his face in her hair and tightened his arms around her.

"_You have appeared to my life, feel like I'll never be the same…"_

Bonnie could certainly agree with that.

To those standing on the outside looking in they were having a hard time computing the image of Bonnie and Damon not just dancing, but embracing as if they were lovers.

Elena and Caroline exchanged looks. They might be a touch over drunk but had sobered up enough to realize what was unfolding before them.

Something was going on between Damon and Bonnie and it wasn't just friendship. Two friends did _not_ hold one another as if the other might vanish if they let go for a second.

Damon's hands fell a little lower on her back until he was almost practically grabbing her ass. Bonnie reached for one his hands and placed it right where she wanted it to be.

He was rock hard in an instant and clutched her ass tighter to make sure she didn't move from her spot.

Bonnie's heart began to beat a little faster, her skin became warmer, and more than anything she wished she could lean up and kiss Damon. Would that be a sign of giving in? Of surrendering too soon? She wasn't exactly sure but what she was sure of was the fact that being in Damon's arms never felt more right. She literally felt as if her heart might explode—that's how badly she wanted him and not just sexually, but she wanted him as a tangible part of her life, wanted his friendship, wanted him to be her partner in crime.

She wanted his love.

Damon had been with his fair share of women. That went without saying. Yet he could fit all the women who actually mattered and/or he gave a damn about on one hand. Was it because his standards were high and he thought of himself as that much of a catch—not really. Women had been nothing more than playthings, his food. Getting involved with one would only lead to heartache and disappointment so he never bothered. All he needed was a quick screw here, a sip of blood there and he was perfectly content with floating through life only feeding his impulses and basic needs.

Now everything was changing.

Bonnie felt like an intangible spirit that was only visiting earth for a little while. It seemed like a weird analogy to apply to this human girl, but she was on the cusp for the taking and molding into whatever he desired her to be. Despite what came out of her mouth Bonnie wanted him. She wanted to draw things out because his track record wasn't the best. Okay he could understand that, and he knew if he wanted a shot with her he had to bring his A game.

A good dick down could only take _him _so far.

However, if he examined things closely he'd realize Bonnie was just the type of woman he _should _be with. She was tough, loyal to a fault, passionate, obstinate, and this was the most important thing—she had his respect. For as much as he claimed to love Elena, at the heart of things he didn't really respect her, not the way a man is supposed to respect the woman he says he loves. Bonnie had earned his respect and that probably occurred the night she sat him on fire. It would have been illogical and stupid of him not to respect her after that.

But the question remained—did she respect him?

Much to both of their chagrins the song ended too soon, but the lyrics certainly sounded like the soundtrack to their entire history.

They never argued with anyone like the way they argued with each other. And maybe that was just their form of foreplay.

Bonnie and Damon looked at one another—considering. Was she ready to end the party although things had been in full swing for less than two hours?

Blood had rushed to her cheeks, forehead, the tip of her nose giving her an adorable and delicious rosy tint. Her green eyes were open and he bored into them with his ice-blue orbs. Her lips were parted that he could see her bottom teeth. This was the perfect opportunity to swoop in like an eagle and taste her lips and put the both of them out of their silent misery.

Unfortunately the spell was broken and their ears were assaulted with "Your Love is My Drug". Bodies began to crash into Bonnie, jostling her. Someone grabbed her by the wrist and she was yanked away and then lifted on to a table. Bonnie was stiff as she made eye contact with Damon. Some nameless girl took her place in front of him and started thrashing around.

Bonnie giggled and then started dancing. Why the heck not? It was her birthday after all.

**Sometime later **Bonnie changed her dress. The one she had worn at the beginning of the party kept getting stepped on so it was definitely time to shorten things up a bit. While alone, she also counted out the money that had been stuffed in her garter. So far she had "earned" close to eight hundred dollars. Bonnie rolled up the money and stuffed it under her mattress—probably the worst hiding place for it, but no one was allowed upstairs.

When she rejoined the party in a sparkling corseted number that hit her about mid thigh, Bonnie bumped into someone.

His face was familiar but it was taking a while for recognition to hit. But once he smiled and those green eyes of his became a lit Bonnie's eyes widened. "Aleksander?"

"Happy Birthday, Bonnie," Nero spoke in a dulcet tone.

Bonnie laughed and was tempted to reach over and hug him, but they were still virtual strangers to one another, and Nero didn't exactly look like the hugging type. Nero had sensed her intention, and leaned down and kissed her cheek.

Damon of course was watching this and he happened to be standing next to Blondie at the time. "Who the hell is that Olivier Martinez looking dude Bonnie is hugging?"

Caroline giggled and tilted her head. "You're right he does look like a younger version of Olivier. That's Aleksander Stavros. He and Bonnie have history together." And yes she purposely formed her statement to be ambiguous and appear as if Aleksander and Bonnie had known one another intimately.

"Hun," Damon grunted. Well, this was certainly the _last _thing he needed. A blast from Bonnie's past who could mount to being an impediment to his goal.

Caroline looked at Damon and it was hard to miss the daggers he was throwing at Aleksander. "Why do you look like you want to take Aleksander head off his shoulders? Is it because he's talking to Bonnie? You like her don't you?"

Damon scoffed and drowned the contents in his cup. It was time to make a hasty retreat. "Why don't you go get a facial from one of the lion cubs, Caroline." Not one of his best one liners but he needed to shut her up.

He stalked off before she could irritate him further.

For the next twenty minutes Damon eavesdropped on Bonnie's conversation with Aleksander. He learned the boy had an accent, Greek in origin, and he wanted to know if Bonnie had known some person named Misha Christova. Bonnie denied knowing the existence of such a person, and wanted to know why to which Aleksander brushed it off as unimportant. Their conversation lulled a bit, before they began speaking about some upcoming assignment due in Alaric's class.

_That fucking Caroline, _Damon thought she tried to pull the wool over his eyes.

Shifting his attention back to Bonnie and the newbie, he watched as Bonnie coaxed Aleksander out on the dance floor who put up a fight. Bonnie won. They moved remarkably well with another and it was plain to see there was some attraction there between them.

Damon was done. He wanted these people out of his house, and he wanted Bonnie to get any notion of her entertaining another guy out of her pretty little head, because Damon did not and would not compete for her attention. _They _had something going and he'd be damned if things ended prematurely because some guy from her history class was circling around her skirt.

Thankfully the party began to wind down around three in the morning. Bonnie had caught her second wind and was still dancing around sans shoes with a beer in her hand. Caroline and Elena were drooling on his leather couch. Matt was completely passed out on the floor. Stefan was getting a lap dance, and a few stragglers weren't making any kind of progress to their vehicles.

Damon promptly threw them out. He'd leave the others were they lied.

"Bonnie…" Damon called for her attention.

She swung her gaze in his direction and smiled languidly. "Yes?"

He crooked a finger at her. "I think its time for you to go to bed."

She pouted and stomped over to him. "But why? There's still plenty of food and drinks left. We can start the after party," and then she hiccupped and giggled. "See, I'm not drunk…not completely. And I'm not tired."

Damon took her by the hand and pulled her upstairs despite her protests.

"Deeeeeeee," she drew out the first initial to his name. "I'm not tired."

"You're eighteen not eight so stop whining."

Bonnie poked her bottom lip out in response to being chastised. Damon opened her bedroom door and strolled inside with Bonnie in tow.

The first thing to grab her attention was a box, rectangle in shape, wrapped in black wrapping paper with an azure bow tied around it sitting in the middle of her bed. Bonnie stared at it and then looked at Damon.

"It's not a bomb," he said once it became apparent Bonnie was making no moves to go and open it.

She slowly made her way over to the bed, climbed on it, and then ripped the wrapping paper to shreds to reveal a shoebox with _Christian Louboutin_ emblazoned on the top.

Bonnie's heart began to speed, her hands shook as she opened the hood, peeled the pale pink tissue paper away to reveal…

"Oh, my God," she whispered and pulled out the boots. _The boots from her dream!_ Her heart was in her throat as she locked gazes with Damon.

"Do you know?" Bonnie asked and felt tears lining her eyes.

Damon stared at her quizzically. "Know what? That you like boots from Christian Louboutin?" he hunched a shoulder. "Caroline picked those out so I can't take all the credit."

Bonnie sighed and relaxed considerably. She felt her blood pressure regulating. If Damon had known all along about what happened in her dreams, then that meant he had been playing her for a fool this whole time. He just escaped death and didn't even know it.

"Do you want me to try them on?"

Damon eagerly nodded. "Only to make sure they fit."

Bonnie smiled and rolled her eyes. She slipped her feet into the five inch thigh high boots with that infamous red sole. Once they were on Bonnie slid off the bed, admired the boots, and then glanced over at Damon. His jaw was a little slack.

Using his distracted state against him, Bonnie approached. With the boots on she was eye-level with him.

"Thank you for my gift, Mr. Salvatore."

"You're welcome," his voice was gravelly.

"Damon…I think I need a massage."

A dark eyebrow lifted. "Right now?"

Bonnie nodded.

"All right. You want to do it in here or in my room?"

"Your room," Bonnie quickly responded. "Your bed has a lot more space."

He grinned. "That it does." Damon turned on his heels and marched out of Bonnie's room. She quickly followed. On their way to their destination, Stefan came upstairs and did a double take as he looked at Bonnie and her new boots.

"Got_damn_," he said and shook his head.

Bonnie smiled at him.

"What are you about to do?"

"I'm about to get my birthday licks," Bonnie cheesed and entered Damon's room. The two brothers eyed one another. Damon smiled cockily and winked at his brother before promptly slamming the door.

"Be careful with him, Bonnie," Stefan shouted. "He likes to cry his way through sex!"

Chapter end.

**A/N: Bamon moments up ahead. Hopefully you remember that Nero AKA "Aleksander" is my original character that I introduced back in chapter 12 and his purpose in this particular story will be revealed in due time, which I can't wait to dig a little deeper into his arc. I tweaked some areas of this chapter, and other than the beginning everything else was the same. Let me know what you guys think. Until next time, love you guys!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hi my loves. Nothing but Bamon goodness ahead. Read on. **

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

Blue-eyes bored into emerald ones. Their faces were so physically close together that if he moved, Bonnie would have felt his nose brush against hers. Damon skimmed his fingers continuously over her cheek and Bonnie was proud of the fact she wasn't thinking about the first time he did that when he was trying to intimidate her to give the crystal back which he stole from her ancestor.

They had grown by leaps and bounds almost like a flower growing out of manure. Bonnie hated to think of their growth in that light but it made sense. Everything between them had been shit of the highest grade, and quality and now what stood before them was a beautiful rose bush with a scintillating scent.

His chest pressed against Bonnie and she welcomed the weight. It made her feel connected to the moment, connected to him. Her alcoholic buzz was slowly dissolving. Call it a gift of being supernatural—having a high tolerance for alcohol, for substance, for excess, but her physiology quickly blocked any foreign substance from gaining the upper hand on her. Bonnie's lips parted at the same time his did. She smiled, Damon grinned, and Bonnie motioned for him to speak first.

"I think you're wearing far too many clothes, Bonnie."

She pushed Damon away and turned on the bed to lie on her stomach, presenting the zipper of her dress to him. He wasted no time lowering it. Damon rose from the bed, grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled it down her body, revealing her flawless caramel skin. The garment fell to the floor after he released it, her new boots followed next. Damon ran his eyes over her half naked frame. His eyebrows knitted together in concentration. Damon had seen his fair share of naked women, but there was just something altogether different about Bonnie. She was a lovely specimen, there was no doubt about it, but for as tiny as she was, he knew her strength lied not in her muscles, but her in blood, her soul, and he wasn't one to ever spiritualize anything, but in this moment he couldn't help himself.

Running his eyes over the slope of her shoulders, down her back, the moons of her ass, to the hourglass shape of her legs, and ending at her perfectly arched feet, Bonnie almost appeared to be made just for him. Cut from the same cloth is the expression that popped up in his head. Her skin always reacted to his touch—from the very beginning. And he could feel it now, vibrating, waiting for him.

Damon slipped his shirt off, left his pants on to his amazement, and rejoined Bonnie on the bed. His hands scooped her long hair out of the way, but not without smelling a strand. Sweet like melted sugar is what she smelled like all the time and when he was human Damon had a voracious sweet tooth. How was it he _never _or vaguely noticed this when he was chasing after Elena's flat ass, he'd never understand it.

Bonnie didn't tense when she felt his fingers dance across her skin. She liquefied against his touch, desperate to know what he was thinking. Her breath expelled through her mouth on a happy sigh the moment he ran his knuckles down her spine. And then he kissed the birthmark on her left shoulder blade. She smiled.

With a clever flick her bra was unclasped and pulled away. Bonnie gulped. This moment was an almost exact replica from their first time in her dream. She was even lying across his bed in the same way. Bonnie bit her bottom lip and tensed slightly when Damon ran his palm over her left butt cheek. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be completely naked. She wanted more than anything to flip over, throw caution to the wind and say "Take me now, you damn bastard."

She would not give in.

Damon felt her body tense and smirked. She was trying so hard not to be affected by his touch, but he knew he was slowly driving her nuts. No woman could resist one of his legendary massages. In fact this wasn't something he did—at all. He wasn't some college frat guy needing a clever way to get a girl out of her top and bra. He had too much talent for that infantile seduction. But whenever he was feeling particularly generous he'd give a massage which would lead to some paint-melting sex. He wasn't absolutely certain how far Bonnie would allow things to go, but naturally he'd go as far as he could.

Damon lied next to Bonnie, on his side, and did nothing more but run his fingertips along her thighs, her calves watching every little twitch of her face, feeling her wiggle against his touch. Her arousal was slowly permeating the air and he wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to abstain from burying himself in her and claiming Bonnie like she so obviously needed to be claimed. But for now he was content with just touching her and locking all of her facial expressions into memory.

Her skin was so undeniably soft it was a tad ridiculous.

Getting off the bed again, Damon retrieved a bottle of oil from his bathroom. When he came back to the bed he saw that Bonnie had crossed her legs at the ankle.

He grabbed her left foot and put it back where it was. Bonnie gave a little grunt of complaint to which he snorted.

"Don't try to fight anything, Bonnie," Damon admonished and flicked the cap open on the bottle with his thumb, and poured little individual pea sized drops on her back.

"Just relax into my touch."

"I am relaxed," she argued.

Damon shook his head back and forth. "You're tense but you _will _be relaxed after my hands have had their naughty way with you."

"Please try to keep things PG-13," Bonnie advised.

Damon slighted her with a look and then ran his thumb down her slit. Bonnie arched off the bed and growled at him. "I'll keep things in whichever rating suits me. Now lay back down."

Bonnie rebelled against his instruction for a tenth of a second before doing as he asked. He grinned in victory.

Damon ran his hand across her back in elliptical circles covering the entire area. He purposely brushed the tips of his fingers against the sides of her breasts. Bonnie jumped a little before relaxing.

"Did you enjoy your party?" he asked, and began to knead her flesh with his pale white hands.

Bonnie nodded and pushed some of her hair away from her mouth. A few strands had gotten stuck on her lip gloss covered lips.

"It was by far the best birthday I've ever had. Thank you, Damon. You and Stefan…you didn't have to do what you did for me."

Damon took the compliment but he felt slightly annoyed she'd lump him with Stefan. Stefan hadn't been the one to come up with the idea of having sushi and barbeque or the wild, exotic animals. That had been all him. All Stefan did—with his perverted self—was go out and buy Bonnie a garter to collect birthday money, and of course he let Damon charge half of the expenses on his black Amex.

And thinking of his brother, Damon wanted to know what _exactly _was going on with him and Bonnie. There was no way in the world he could not bring up the topic of what Stefan said about getting her out of her dress in less time than it took for her to get it on. Stefan of Old _never _would have said something so brash even if he was thinking it. Nope, Stefan had been too much a gentleman to go up to a woman and say show me your tits.

"Hey, Bon," he tried to put the right about of nonchalance in his voice.

"Yes?"

"What the hell is going on between you and Stefan?" Cool, Damon that lasted all of half of a second.

Bonnie leaned up and placed her weight on her elbows and turned her head until she could stare in his eyes.

"Nothing."

He rolled his eyes but didn't stop working on her back. "Could you be a little more descriptive, please?" he said through somewhat clenched teeth.

Bonnie looked away for a moment and thought. Stefan wasn't how he was when they first met. That went without saying. He made her smile. He was fun. If Damon wanted to know what was going on between them then the person he should be asking was his brother. Only Stefan could explain the changes he made in his personality.

"Stefan…he's my dawg," she giggled. "He makes me laugh, and he gives really good advice. He's just a good friend to me."

Damon felt she could have gone a bit deeper with her explanation, but in her mind everything was strictly platonic. There were no underlining feelings. He hoped at least.

"But he talks to you so different now. He doesn't say a third of the things that's come out of his mouth to you, to someone like Caroline. Now why is that?"

"Maybe because I live here," Bonnie shrugged. "You'd really have to ask him. I can't speak for Stefan. He's changed, that much is obvious. I think he's just gotten to a point where he doesn't want to be like how he was when he first moved back here. And he's certainly not the ripper anymore. I think he's just trying to find a medium, you know. He's always been so careful, and being careful all the time keeps you restricted. Everyone is under some false impression that you have to stay the same no matter what happens to you. I think it's confining, and perhaps Stefan does as well."

Damon thought over her words. For being only eighteen Bonnie knew how to analyze a situation.

"So because he makes you laugh, and he's fun," his voice raised an octave to which Bonnie rolled her eyes, "that's why you're drawn to him?"

"What are you trying to imply or get at, Salvatore? It's not like you to beat around the bush. Just spit it out."

Damon moved his hands to her lower back where he used his thumbs to add pressure.

"I'm not trying to fight with you," Damon answered.

"Dee," Bonnie called him by his newly inaugurated nick name that he wasn't sure he liked. "Your insecurities about your brother have no merit right now. I'm exactly where and with whom I want to be with. Now, stop trying to psychoanalyze everything and get to rubbing."

Damon grinned. "Yes, ma'am. Oh, and for the record I'm not insecure. Look at me. Why would I be?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes and laid her head on her folded arms again. "I'll agree with you on that, Damon. You have no reason to be insecure. You're just so pretty."

His hands ghosted up her back again and squeezed the muscles of her shoulders. "And what else?"

"Fishing for compliments?"

"Absolutely. Tell me five things you like about me and I'll tell you five things I like about you."

"Are we in high school? Oh, wait, I am," she snorted. "Are you gonna have Stefan pass me a note asking: do you like me check yes, no, maybe so."

For that he smacked her butt.

"Ouch!"

"Answer the question woman," Damon, barked.

"All right," she sighed. "You have very nice hands. I like your smirk although half the time I want to smack it off."

Damon couldn't resist smirking at that.

"I like the fact that you go all in especially when it's something important to you. I like that you're a man."

That confession made Damon curious. "What do you mean by that?"

"When I say you're a man I mean you're a pillar of strength. I feel safe when I'm with you. Although you do have the tendencies of a ten year old."

He swatted her ass again.

"Quit it!"

"You _know _you like it."

"Ah… just stop," Bonnie griped.

"You hesitated so that means you like it." And to prove his point he smacked her other cheek.

"Damon!" the lights flickered.

The vampire in question sighed. "All right, I'm stopping. What's the fifth thing you like about me?"

Bonnie felt herself blushing. Her skin warmed considerably under Damon's hands and he wondered what she was thinking about to cause such a reaction.

"Now you really got me curious," Damon stopped massaging and pressed his body into Bonnie. "What is going through that naughty mind of yours, Bennett?"

Bonnie tried not to gasp when she felt Damon's bulge pressing between her cheeks. She cleared her throat, mind going a hundred miles an hour.

"I like…" her mouth was going dry and she made the mistake of looking into his mesmerizing eyes. "I like that you make me feel like a woman; you make me feel fearless. And I'm adding something else…I like that when I need you, you're there."

Damon stared at her seriously for a moment. It had been a while since anyone listed reasons for why they liked him. He could go up to anyone in town and ask them to list why they hated him. That could take half of eternity because Damon hadn't made himself that many friends because he was a nomad, and figured having close relationships with people was a total freaking waste of time. Hearing Bonnie's reasons for why she tolerated his existence made something funny burst inside of him. And there was a part of him that wanted to run in the other direction and not be drawn to it.

But he was drawn to her. Couldn't help himself at this point.

In one minute Bonnie was lying prone on the bed, and the next, she found herself pressed chest to chest with Damon, with her arms around his shoulders, straddling him.

Her eyes were wild. "What are you doing?"

"I want to make eye contact when I tell you all the things I like about you." He dropped his eyes to her chest. Although he couldn't see her nipples he felt them pressing against his pectorals and it was a very pleasing sensation.

"I like the way your skin reacts to my touch, like it can't get enough of me," and to prove his point he dropped a kiss to the top of her boob and he felt her skin vibrate. "I like the fact you're an undercover freak but you don't want to let it show."

Bonnie ducked her head a bit to hide her smile.

Damon tilted her chin up. "I like the fact I can make you blush from time to time." He ran his fingers through her hair. "I like the fact you trust me. Not many people do." Damon dropped his hands to her backside and forced her even closer to him. "Grudgingly I like that you don't easily forgive me when I do something foul—which I know happens to be every other day. You make me earn your forgiveness."

Bonnie nodded her head in agreement.

"And lastly," he traced her bottom lip his index finger. "I like the fact you don't back down or run from a fight. You're the strongest person I know, and trust I don't hand out that compliment to just anyone."

"I figured as much," Bonnie said and pressed a kiss to his digit. Damon smiled.

Bonnie went over all the things Damon said he liked about her. She was expecting to hear the typical male stuff in reference to her body and how thinking about having sex with her made him feel, but it was nice to hear deeper things from Damon. It meant he actually put more stock in real matter rather than focusing on the superficial.

His arms around her waist and upper back tightened, constricted like a python. It kind of went hand in hand to the python he had in his pants.

They stared earnestly at one another.

"What are you looking for, Damon? What do you want?" Bonnie asked.

He grinned slyly. "I want to suck your tits."

She popped him upside the head. "Damon!"

He shrugged. "You asked and I answered," he replied sheepishly. "What does any man who can live forever want?"

"To share it with someone else?" Bonnie guessed.

"That's one way of looking at things." Damon hunched a shoulder. "When I figure out what I want, you'll be the first to know. What do you want, Bonnie Bennett? Let me guess, it rhymes with Cayman?" he winked.

Bonnie shook her head. What she wanted, she couldn't confess. Not right now. If you wanted to have a serious conversation with someone, clothes had to be involved. No distractions allowed.

"I want to be happy. I know it sounds clichéd."

"It is."

Bonnie compressed her lips in disapproval at the interruption. Damon attempted to look contrite and failed.

"But I want what my ancestors never had. A real opportunity to live life freely, to be happy every day no matter what, and to love as hard as possible."

"Why does it seem everything in life always boils down to love? Even in the most gruesome movies, love is always thrown into the mix. Why? What's so great about it?"

"You sound like a cynic."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't supposed to be a compliment," Bonnie brushed the back of her hand across his cheek. "What do you have against love?"

Damon shrugged. "Nothing, I suppose. I just don't have the best track record when it comes to that elusive thing. I loved my mother—she died. I loved Katherine—she played me. I loved…" he stopped abruptly. Even he knew it was bad etiquette to talk about loving the best friend of the girl you're trying to screw.

Bonnie didn't bristle, at least on the outside. It was pretty much public knowledge how Damon felt about Elena. And she did wonder if he could ever love her that way.

"We should change the subject," Damon said after a while.

"Why? I know that you loved Elena. But she's not here with you."

He smiled. "No, she's not. But not too many chicks would be cool with being with a guy that she knew loved her best friend."

"You're right, not many chicks would be cool with that. I'm not many chicks. I'm Bonnie."

"And who is Bonnie?"

"Even after eighteen years I'm still trying to figure that out. What I know without a doubt, she wants to fall hard and love harder. Who's Damon Salvatore?"

Damon thought for a moment and licked his lips. "He's a closet romantic looking for his Juliet. No, I'm just a guy trying to carve out his own slice of heaven right here in this hell called earth. I guess I'm like you, can you believe it, me an eighteen year old girl at heart?"

Both of them chuckled. "But after everything I've seen, gone through, after all the trouble I've caused…I'm just looking to add some substance to my existence. I might as well. I have eternity."

"You do," Bonnie concurred. "And you shouldn't waste it. So are we agreeing right now to go after what we want out of life?"

"I believe so. And you want some words of wisdom about love? Do as Mercutio advised: If love be rough with you be rough with love. Prick love for pricking and beat love down." And to highlight his point, he pecked her cheek.

"Just remember this one key thing, Damon without love we are nothing."

Hearing those words struck another chord with Damon. The girl sitting astride him was getting under his skin in more ways than one.

Clearing his throat, Damon said, "I think we've done enough soul searching for one night, witchy. We should dance."

Damon meant to pull away but Bonnie tightened her arms around him. "Not yet," she said and then pulled his head backwards by tugging on his hair. Damon complied to make things easier for her because he wasn't sure what she was about to do.

Bonnie directed her lips to his neck where his jugular vein should have been thumping. She kissed him in that hollow space where his jaw bone and earlobe met.

His eyes shamelessly fluttered closed. It had been a while since someone kissed _him _on the neck. Bonnie's lips against his skin caused an interesting suction as she drew his skin between her teeth, biting down gently.

"You'd make an excellent vampire, Bonnie."

Bonnie jerked back and frowned at him. "Don't _ever_ say that nonsense to me again, Damon. Now," she pressed her index finger to his lips. "Silence, please," and she went back to nibbling on his neck.

Bonnie opened her jaw a little bit wider, drew shapes against the column of his neck with the tip of her tongue. Her fingers weren't idle. They constantly burrowed their way through his tuff of ink black hair.

Damon's breathing increased until his chest was heaving. He felt his control on his bloodlust slip for a second and the whites of his eyes turned red. The ends of his fangs lengthened.

Bonnie worked her mouth from the right side of his neck to the left, yet paused at his Adam's apple. Overcome with greed, Bonnie gripped him by the wrists and with a surprising burst of strength she flipped Damon on his back.

His eyes widened in shock and then dissolved into lust-filled pools of desire. With the twitch of her powers, music from Damon's iPod system began to flood the room and Bonnie smiled at the song that began to play "Jupiter Love" by Trey Songz.

"How appropriate," Damon commented.

Bonnie didn't say a word but only went back to kissing his neck, and then she began to descend down his body, paying homage with her tongue, lips, and teeth.

"I want to try something, Damon."

He eagerly nodded his head. He was up for anything.

Bonnie ran her hand over his chest and then she zapped him with static electricity.

"What the hell!" Damon roared, glared at her, but then grinned. "Do it again."

So she did, placing her hand over his pecks, down his torso, causing the hairs on this body to rise, making the static sink into his dead pores making Damon feel like he stuck his tongue into an electrical socket. But shamelessly he was so hard that he was in pain. Bonnie sank her hand lower until her fingers brushed against the fly of his pants. She worked the zipper down and then slipped her hand inside, clutching his rod of steel.

Damon's jaws clenched painfully on top of one another as Bonnie continued the onslaught of static electricity while running her fingers over the shaft of his penis, tracing the head with her thumb.

"Oh, shit oh shit oh SHIT!" he shouted as his back arched off the bed. Bonnie squeezed him in her fist and went back to tracing his neck with her clever tongue.

His fingers flexed and extended and Damon had the urge to bite something, rip something apart. Bonnie grabbed his right hand and sucked on this thumb before biting down.

"Urgh…why are you doing this to me?" he nearly whimpered.

Bonnie smiled wickedly. "Because I can," and she increased the speed, pressure, and the voltage of electricity as she continued to pump him hoping to milk him like a dairy cow.

"Don't you want to go swimming in my ocean, Damon?"

"Hell yes!"

"What else do you want to do?" her hand fondled his balls and Damon began stuttering.

"I—w-w-want I-I- w-want-t…"

"Hun, Damon?" she sucked his lobe in her mouth next. Damon grabbed the bed sheet and accidentally ripped it.

"Akhsdiehnehiehkekejkke…."

Bonnie giggled. "I'm sorry I don't speak that language," she dragged her nails over his phallus, her hand slippery thanks to his pre-cum. "Come on, Damon. I'm so wet for you."

"B-B-Bonnie," he cried and listened to the slopping sound of her hand working his meat like a joystick. He growled. This certainly shouldn't be happening. He shouldn't be this damn incoherent like it was his first time getting a hand job. But, he quickly amended, it was his first time receiving a hand job with static electricity applied. Damon was finding it difficult to equate this feeling with anything else he might have experienced in life. Nothing came close.

He was under this eighteen year's old spell with no way to free himself. And how sad, he barely even touched her tonight.

She increased her speed, knew he was seconds from bursting apart. So Bonnie leaned down and captured one mauve colored nipple into her mouth and darted her tongue against it.

Yep, that did it. He was done. Cooked. Baked. Fried over easy. Damon shouted at the ceiling with his mouth in the shape of an O.

"Nicki Minja save _me_!" he cried. Bonnie laughed.

The front of Damon pants received the brunt of his release as a nice wet spot formed. So embarrassing but he was too fucking gone to care.

Not long the door to his room burst open and Matt spilled inside. His eyes blinked at what he was seeing. Bonnie with her breasts exposed and her hand stuffed down Damon's pants who looked like he busted the biggest nut of his life. Yeah, he had had _far_ too much to drink.

Bonnie squealed and tried to cover herself up. "Get out!"

"My bad. I thought someone was being murdered," he blushed profusely and quickly retraced his steps out of Damon's room.

Damon for his part chuckled and then curled into a fetal position. He stuck his thumb in his mouth.

Bonnie frowned and tapped him on the shoulder. "Damon?"

"Give me a moment," he said. His body shook and his eyes kept crossing. Bonnie grabbed Damon's shirt and threw it on.

Bonnie stared down at Damon. "I think we've had enough fun for one night."

He didn't respond only stared off into space with a euphoric expression on his face. Bonnie snorted and then climbed off of the great bed and took half a step before Damon caught her roughly by the wrist.

"Stay."

"I think I should go to my room."

"I want you to stay," and to prove his point he threw the covers back and tapped the mattress. Bonnie hesitated for a second before climbing into bed.

Damon snuggled beside her, actually curled up around her like a cat, and used her chest as a pillow. Bonnie stared down at him feeling bemused before wrapping her arms around him.

"This is nice, don't you think?" he asked.

By the skin of her teeth she resisted scratching the side of her head wondering what she did to this vampire. He was acting…well…like a kid.

Things were quiet until Damon started making some strange sound. "Are you cooing?" Bonnie asked.

"What?" Damon snorted and laughed dryly. "No. You're hearing things. Go to sleep."

**Birds were singing, **sunlight poured into the room and Bonnie felt like Snow White waking up in a bed too big for a normal sized human to sleep in. Her eyes fluttered in protest to the bright light emptying into the room, but she smiled and tried to stretch but found herself trapped in a stone-like embrace.

She shifted until she could look over her shoulder. Damon was still asleep. Bonnie took this opportunity to just observe him. He had such a handsome face. She was sure that if he had been alive during the age of Michelangelo or Rembrandt they would have given away their most prized possession just to capture Damon's fatal handsomeness on an oil canvas.

Her eyes dropped to his lips and she felt her own twitch with anticipation. Bonnie so wanted to kiss him but she feared where that would lead. For as much foreplay as the two of them have had, they've still yet to kiss. She questioned the reason why she was denying this one action. It wasn't because she didn't think she wouldn't measure up, Bonnie just wasn't ready to take that plunge.

Kissing, if done correctly, could be such a personal thing. But more than likely her teenaged fantasy about the perfect first kiss was plaguing her. Her kiss with Jeremy had been epic. She couldn't remember who grabbed who first, but they met with mutual need.

Damon shifted a bit and Bonnie cut off that walk down memory lane. She waited for his lids to open and reveal those fawn eyes of his. He had the kind of eyes that got him in and out of trouble.

He gifted her with a lopsided grin and stretched his right arm behind his head. "Morning."

"Good morning."

"I'm surprised you didn't try to sneak out on me."

"The thought did cross my mind."

"So why didn't you?"

"Because I would have missed the chance to ogle you in your birthday suit."

He chuckled darkly. "You know you don't need a viable excuse to see me naked. I'm always open to expose myself."

"Yeah, I picked up on that last night."

"And speaking of last night," he nipped her shoulder with his teeth. "If you tell a single soul about what I did, with the thumb sucking and…er…other things…."

Bonnie covered up her chuckle with her knuckles.

"They will have a hard time finding your body."

"Promises, promises, Salvatore."

"I didn't get the chance to reciprocate. I mean…I didn't shatter any light bulbs but I'm sure with practice I'll get there."

Bonnie felt a nervous constriction take over in her belly. Any other girl would have complained about not having her needs fulfilled but Bonnie had always been a giver, and that sadly never crossed her mind. Besides, Damon had been more than generous to her for her birthday. What was the harm in showing her appreciation by getting him off? Moreover, Bonnie inevitably turned the tables back in her favor.

Damon moved in bed until he was positioned between her legs. Bonnie gulped and stared deep into his eyes.

"We have so much ground to cover, Judgey."

She rolled her eyes. "I think we've established that we're way past the point of you still calling me by that stupid name."

"I use it more as a term of affection now."

Her face fell from slight indignation to bewilderment. Her worlds were clashing, meshing together and it was beginning to confuse her. Damon, the one from her coma said the same thing.

Damon saw the pained expression on Bonnie's face. "What? What did I do?"

Bonnie tried to recover and shook her head. "Nothing. You didn't do anything wrong. For once. You just…you did something right."

He grinned. "Really? Well I'm guessing that's a good thing."

"A very good thing," Bonnie agreed.

Damon stared at her seriously, dropped his eyes to her lips and cleared the space separating them. Bonnie gasped because she hadn't actually prepared for him to kiss her. All that was running through her head was I have horrendous morning breath; please don't kiss me.

Luckily Damon shifted his trajectory and kissed her neck. Bonnie was a bit surprised and pulled away. Damon stared down at her.

"What? Did you honestly think I was going to kiss you? Sweetie, your breath could knock over a horse."

Bonnie wanted to retaliate and hit him but instead she laughed. It was so true. "Get off me," she said and began to squirm. Damon wouldn't move though.

"Your breath might be funky, but the rest of you smells ooh so good." His hand reached for the hem of his shirt to pull it up and off, but Bonnie stopped him.

"I'm sorry but nature is calling." She pushed until Damon fell off of her and he watched with narrowed eyes as she sprinted out of bed and entered his bathroom. Damon flounced backwards and jabbed the heel of his palm in his eye socket. So there wouldn't be any morning loving for him.

Minutes later Bonnie reemerged in the room. She collected her dress and boots off the floor. "Thank you for the massage," she said.

Damon nodded his head and then joined her at his door. He opened it for her and placed a deep kiss on her neck. "I'll see you a breakfast."

"Okay," Bonnie mumbled and made her way back to her room.

When she disappeared Damon said, "You can run and you can hide, but you're mine, Judgey. All mine."

"**Wait…wait…I think I got it," **Stefan Salvatore said and then sighed. "Nope, I lost it."

"You're either not concentrating enough or you're concentrating too much," Bonnie replied. "Are you letting your eyes go out of focus?"

"I'm trying but my stupid vampire vision keeps interfering. This is hopeless," Stefan lamented and released his hold on the 3-D book he and Bonnie were looking at.

Bonnie shifted her head on the pillow to stare at Stefan who was lying beside her on her bed. He was dressed in his customary uniform of a snug dark blue T-shirt, and black jeans. Bonnie for her part was attired in a summer halter dress with floral embellishments.

"Stefan, you have to keep trying."

"Why?" he whined and grabbed the book again. "It's physically impossible for me to see in 3-D. We've been staring at this stupid thing for over an hour, and I've yet to see one image jump out at me."

"You want to know my secret?"

Stefan shrugged.

"I try to let my mind go blank. And that's your problem is that you're thinking too much."

He grinned. "How do you expect me to think about anything else when I'm lying next to a beautiful woman?"

"Yeah, thanks for the compliment, but it's not winning you any brownie points."

"Drat," he said and snapped his fingers. "Ah, well can't knock a vamp for trying."

"And speaking of trying," Bonnie held his end of the book out to Stefan who accepted it. Together they brought the book close to their faces and slowly inched it away.

"I think I got something," Stefan said excitedly.

"Stop talking."

He snapped his jaws shut and finally an image jumped off the page. It was a boy holding a balloon—how underwhelming.

"I think I'm done," Stefan dropped the book again, and then looked over at Bonnie. "What do you have planned for today?"

"Nothing much. Elena and Jeremy are doing something at the Lockwoods. Caroline has a date with some mystery guy."

"Knowing Caroline he won't remain a mystery for long," Stefan added.

"No he won't."

"And what about you, Miss Bennett, no hot date?"

Bonnie ran her fingers through her hair. After her birthday things once again kind of simmered down. Not completely but she hadn't spent anymore nights in Damon's room. In a lot of ways she felt they were back to square one yet in many ways Bonnie felt they had established their own rhythm to their relationship.

"I'm eighteen, I'm young, single, and I'm a girl. I shouldn't be holed up in a house on a Friday night contemplating how I have no options."

"No you shouldn't."

"What are you doing tonight?"

"I have…this thing…with this girl."

Bonnie smiled slyly. "You have a date? Is it with Caroline?"

"No," he winced and sat up in bed to rest his weight on his elbow. Stefan stared down at Bonnie. "She's this girl I met not too long ago. It's nothing serious. Oh, this reminds me. Clear your calendar for next weekend because I'm taking you to DC."

Bonnie's eyes widened and she sat up in bed. "You're taking me to DC? Why? What's going on?"

"Your favorite band is performing at the Verizon Center—that's what's going on."

Bonnie began to hop around. "I have so many favorite bands can't you give me a hint?"

"Nope," and Stefan plopped the sound. Bonnie frowned at him.

"Are we just going up for the day or staying overnight?" she asked.

"We're staying overnight. I hope that won't be a problem for you and your occasional sleepover buddy," Stefan snickered.

Bonnie playfully hit him on the shoulder. "It shouldn't be a problem so long as we're staying in separate rooms. But I don't understand why you're taking me. It's just the two of us going?"

Stefan nodded his head. "It's your _real _birthday gift from me," and he laid a hand over his chest. "I consider you one of my close friends, Bon, and I want to make you happy."

She couldn't help blushing even if she wanted to. "You've been so generous to me already, I feel like if you do anything else that I'm just taking advantage."

After hearing her words, Stefan shook his head and then tucked several strands of her midnight hair behind her pierced ear. "You could never take advantage of me," he said softly and then cupped her cheek. Stefan's eyes dropped to her lips and he licked his own unconsciously.

"My, don't you two look…cozy."

Bonnie nearly leapt off the bed at hearing Damon's voice. She self-consciously ran her hand over her body. Stefan for his part smirked, rolled his eyes, and then rose from the bed.

"Don't leave on my account," Damon said. "I was just passing through. I'll let you two continue."

"I was just on my way out," Stefan retorted.

Bonnie knew Damon was being anything but generous in this moment. She got up from the bed as well. His eyes began to shoot poisonous daggers at Stefan as he made his way to the exit.

The two brothers measured up the other. "Punk bitch," Stefan said and shouldered his way past Damon.

Damon looked affronted before chuckling darkly. He then swung his hawk-like gaze on Bonnie who stood watching him like a deer looking for the nearest exit. She should be worried.

He stepped into her room, approached, and loomed over Bonnie. She returned his gaze unflinching. Whenever he inhaled he could smell his brother on her and it made him want to suck his teeth.

"You're going out of town with him?" his tone nearly accusatory.

"As part of my birthday present," she answered softly.

_Are you going to fuck him?_

"And before you ask I have no intentions of sleeping with Stefan," Bonnie stared at him knowingly. "So get that train of thought out of your head."

Damon smirked in approval, but then reached for her hand and kissed it. "We should head out. Are you feeling hungry?"

"I could eat."

"Get your shoes because you're coming with me."

She smiled. "As you wish, Mr. Salvatore."

Damon winked and left her room. Bonnie squealed and threw on her sandals, slapped on some lip gloss, sprayed herself with plenty of perfume, and stared at her reflection.

"Get him girl."

Chapter end.

**A/N: I didn't make any changes to this chapter, but I might go back and add something just to speed Bamon up a little more. I'll let you know the next time I update. Hope everyone enjoyed this. Until next time, love you guys.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: So I've been dragging my feet on updating this. I'm sorry you guys. I hate to say this because I feel like I'm pimping myself, but what keeps a story fresh in my mind are reviews. I know the show must go on regardless, but reviews weren't pouring in like they were once upon a time. I value each and every single one and hell yeah it makes me feel good to know people are letting me know they enjoy my stories; so when I couldn't help but notice the decline, there went my motivation to keep updating regularly. Even as a writer I'm trying to do better with leaving reviews to let other authors know I appreciate their work and the time they sacrifice to entertain us. So I can't complain about not bringing in reviews if I don't review, so I've been working on that.**

**So Kiara this is for you, and in reply to your inquiries about an update to Wide Awake *sighs* my muse has been abducted so let me consult with the Winchesters and hopefully something will get popping before spring officially starts, lol. Enjoy everyone!**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Downtown Mystic Falls** really shouldn't be called downtown because it lacked skyscrapers and multi-million dollar businesses, so Bonnie liked to refer to it as Center City. Familiar lights decorated the grassy knoll which was home to traditional events drenched in Old South ways such as the Ms. Mystic Falls pageant, and of course watching lovely movies such as _Gone with the Wind, _cue eye roll. Damon thundered his black-on-black Ferrari past all of it and illegally parked his car in a handicap spot. Bonnie slighted him with a look.

"Don't look at me like that," he admonished. "That's why it says SALVATORE on the license plate. They know better than to touch my shit."

Bonnie said nothing as she snapped off her seatbelt and waited for him to open up the door.

He took her by the hand to assist Bonnie out of the car, and the two of them walked a short distance to the place they would be eating. Once it came into view, Bonnie stumbled on her feet and stared incredulously at him. He grinned and winked.

Folding her arms over her chest, Bonnie was tempted to tap her foot against the asphalt. "Red Harry's Hotdog Stand? Really, Damon?"

He hunched a shoulder. "I didn't know you were a snob, Miss Bennett," he retorted in kind. "Red Harry's is a respected establishment in this po-dunk town."

"Yeah, I know that. I used to eat here every single weekend when I was kid. And no, I'm not a snob."

"All right, so I'm not seeing what the problem is."

Bonnie looked around at the families gathered together. She watched frustrated moms trying to get their little ones to focus long enough to say what they wanted on their hotdogs, whereas the dads' ignored the circus that was their families and began mourning the loss of their hard-earned dollar bills. For a second Bonnie saw herself in this position, but as she looked to her companion, she knew if she remained on this course the scene in front of her wouldn't be apart of her future. Ever.

"The problem is," Bonnie began, "you drove a Ferrari to a hotdog stand," she shook her head and threw her hands up in the air. "Never mind. We're here and my stomach is complaining."

They began walking towards the stand which was really a small store like property. Red Harry's didn't offer inside seating but customers could either take their orders back home, or to one of the picnic tables outside.

Of course Damon, who didn't like following the rules, bombarded his way to the front of the line amid protests. Bonnie stared down at her feet in order to escape the coming persecution.

Damon read the name tag of the young female cashier who immediately began blushing. He offered up his cinematic smile.

"Hi, Angela can I get…" he turned to face Bonnie. "What do you want?"

She moved through the crowd to stand next to Damon and read over the choices. Red Harry's didn't only offer the traditional hotdog toppings such as: ketchup, mustard, relish, or chili. You could get sliced tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, even sour cream put on your dog although Bonnie didn't want to know who would want any of those condiments, but to each it's own.

"Let me get the traditional Harry combo, ketchup, mustard, chili, and relish."

Damon grinned. "No kielbasa?" he wiggled his eyebrows.

"No," Bonnie deadpanned. "That still comes with the curly fries right?" she asked Angela.

The girl dutifully punched in Bonnie's order and nodded her head. "Your drink?"

"A lemonade peach tea mix, please."

"And for you…sir," Angela blushed again and Bonnie barely resisted rolling her eyes.

"I'll have what she's having, but toss a few fried onions on mine."

"Your order will be right up."

Human food never really tasted like anything to Damon, but he enjoyed certain things from time to time. It was funny that living for as long as he had, he never lost his appreciation for a good hotdog. Call him old fashioned, but he could still remember his first time eating one. It was 1957 and he was living in Detroit. A girl he was trying to turn into a meal suggested they try this new place. At first he was appalled at eating something in the shape of a phallus, but he got over it, took one bite, and was hooked ever since.

Less than ten minutes later, food in hand, Damon found an empty picnic table and sat down. Bonnie picked up one of her hotdogs and bit into it after taking the seat across from him. For all intents and purposes this was their first date. Bonnie didn't want to draw attention to that, and just decided to go with it.

The sun was setting; night was settling in, and Bonnie was beginning to feel nostalgic.

"When was the last time you came here?" she asked after swallowing her first bite.

Damon looked away for a moment. "It might have been 1983."

Her eyes widened a bit and she wiped ketchup from her fingers. "You are such an antique."

"No, Klaus is an antique, I'm just old."

Bonnie laughed. "So how often did you used to come back to Mystic Falls?"

Damon took a sip of his drink before answering. "I'd come back every fifteen years give or take. Most of the time it was just to attend the funeral of a fallen Salvatore."

Bonnie searched his eyes. She couldn't imagine outliving her family members and coming back to bury them. It just would have been too painful. And she wondered why Damon would even put in the effort since he made it no secret that family meant nothing to him—at least when he first moved back.

"Not to be morbid or anything, but how was that? Burying members of your family?"

He shrugged. "I didn't know them personally. But I paid my respect when it was due. They were my descendents after all."

"Was that the only reason why you couldn't stay away?" she wondered.

Damon polished off his first hotdog before starting on the second one. "Mostly. There's but so many times you can say you're a distant relative of the 'original' Damon Salvatore and that you happen to look just like him before someone got suspicious. And it wasn't like I had a home to come back to. The town represented my home, but the actual Salvatore mansion was burned down around 1888. I don't remember the exact date."

"Why was it burned?"

"It just was," he answered simply.

A cold, hollow feeling rushed through Bonnie. It went without saying that there was more to the story, but she didn't want to ruin the mood or make Damon upset because he did crazy, stupid things when he was mad.

"New topic," Bonnie said. "Tell me about your first date."

He shook his head. "You _don't_ want to know about that."

"Okay," she ate a fry.

"Tell me about _your _first date, or _is _this your first date?" he grinned.

She chucked a curly fry at his head which he quickly caught in his mouth. "Ass," she said. Bonnie began to smile fondly as she remembered going to the movies without parental supervision and with a boy for the first time.

"My first date was with Matt," she confessed.

Damon swallowed his lemonade/tea mix down his windpipe. "What?" he croaked.

"We were thirteen about to start junior high, and neither one of us wanted to start school without having gone on a date. So we conspired together and convinced our parents to let us see a movie and get a burger afterwards. It didn't take much convincing because Matt's mom was more interested in her own social life, and my dad, he always liked Matt so he didn't raise any objection to it. Matt was so nervous. He was sweaty the whole time, developed a debilitating stuttering problem all of a sudden, and we bumped heads when we tried unsuccessfully to kiss one another."

Damon snickered. Yep he could see it. Two clueless kids attempting to seduce each other. Special.

"You tried to kiss Matt Donovan?" Damon shook his head. "Why?" he grimaced.

Bonnie lifted a shoulder. "He was my closest guy friend and I trusted him. I knew he wouldn't spray paint my bra cup size on the wall of the boy's bathroom if we went out. He was safe."

"Safe, hun? That was the only appeal?"

"I mean he's beautiful," Bonnie gushed to which Damon's eyes narrowed slightly. "Every girl back then just fell in love with his eyes. They're so blue, almost electric. You know what I mean?"

"Like totally," Damon mimicked a valley girl's voice.

Bonnie giggled. "And then I met someone whose eyes surpassed his."

"Now, you gonna make me blush," Damon teased.

Bonnie frowned at him. "Who said I was talking about you?"

This time Damon picked up a handful of curly fries, threatening to throw them at Bonnie. She ducked under the table and after a beat came back up, pushing her hair out of her eyes. Damon stilled for a moment and Bonnie could tell he was listening to something.

A devilish smile broke across his face.

"What?" Bonnie asked.

Damon motioned with his head vaguely in a direction behind her shoulder. "Three chicks over there are trying to figure out what I'm doing with you."

Bonnie discreetly looked over her shoulder and saw the broads Damon was talking about. Each one of them attempted to, and she was being unnecessarily kind, but they attempted to look like models and failed miserably. They overcompensated their looks with too much makeup giving them the appearance of plastic surgery gone wrong. And each of them was trying to seduce Damon with their eyes.

She wasn't impressed or threatened.

"What are they saying?" Bonnie wanted to know.

"Well, the one in the middle believes you're my charity case."

"A charity case? Really?"

"And the one on the left is having a hard time accepting the fact that someone who looks like a god would be with a…" he didn't finish the thought.

"A black girl?" Bonnie caught on and felt her blood boil. She looked over her shoulder again, boldly making eye contact with all three bitches. Call a spade a spade, Bonnie, she told herself. If she wanted, Bonnie could make their drinks explode in their faces and use that liquid to start a fire, but she didn't want to lose her dinner due to the smell of burning skin. She could summon a wind strong enough to pluck them out of their seats and plant them in the next county over. Or…

She could pick up a curly fry, hold one end out to Damon to bite into while she took the other end into her own mouth. Which she did. Bonnie leaned across the table, resting on her elbows as she and Damon recreated that Lady in the Tramp moment.

She nibbled on her end and he did the same and their lips merely brushed against one another in a feather-like embrace before they pulled apart.

Even from the distance separating their tables, Bonnie could hear them sucking their teeth. They could think what they wanted about her, but Damon Salvatore would be coming home with her at the end of the night. And if they didn't like it they could go get eaten out by a shark for all she cared.

"You're a devious little thing, Bonnie. But I don't think they got the message."

Saying nothing, Bonnie rose from the bench, approached Damon and sat down on his knee. He grunted his approval and kissed her neck. Bonnie briefly stared at the girls and then trailed a hand down the center of Damon's chest until it disappeared from their sight.

After seeing that little display, the girls collected their trash and vacated the premises.

"They're gone," Bonnie said and was momentarily distracted by the sinful rotation of Damon's lips against the column of her neck. Bonnie was only half aware of the fact they were in the presence of small children and needed to keep things PG, so reluctantly Bonnie pulled her tender neck away—her cheeks red.

Damon pouted. "Why'd you stop me?" he nearly whined.

"Because we're starting to get dirty looks from the mommy brigade."

"Oh, who cares? They're just jealous their husbands aren't nearly as hot as me or as grabby," and he grabbed Bonnie's ass to prove his point.

The girl in question squirmed away and went back to her side of the picnic table. "Are you done? I need to walk this off."

Finished with their meal, they decided to take a stroll around the manmade lake. They were silent for a while and occasionally their hands would brush up against each other. Bonnie wanted to hold his hand—badly but she remembered Damon saying he wasn't the hand holding type.

Damon stared down at Bonnie and saw that her eyes were planted on his hand. He knew what she wanted, knew what would solidify this moment as being an actual date. So he took the plunge, grabbed Bonnie's hand and entwined their fingers.

She tried as hard as she could to keep her hundred mega-watt smile down to 40 watts, yet failed miserably. Bonnie gripped his hand tighter and then rested her head against his arm.

Some foreign feeling mutated in Damon and the urge to bring Bonnie even closer to him took up residency in an otherwise, cold and dormant place. It had been ages since the last time he held a girl's hand simply for the hell of it or because he wanted to. Admittedly Damon had never actually been _in_ a relationship. There were roadside hookups, one night stands, drunk binges that led to days and days filled with sex, but he never once actually dated anyone.

He was as much a novice to this whole thing as Bonnie was and that scared him, unfortunately. And Damon prided himself on not being scared of anything. But this tiny girl walking beside him, viewing him as worthy of her time and attention, he didn't want to think about all the bad that could follow if he hurt her.

So with the feeling of wanting to be closer to her, it rebelled with wanting to keep her arm's length. Bonnie wasn't the girl you trifled with for _any _reason. She had a tendency—when it came to him at least to be vindictive and to hold a grudge. He honestly liked her because she didn't take his shit and could go toe-to-toe with him without getting tired. However, was he ready to tackle on being responsible for keeping that heart-warming smile on her face?

_Just go with it_, his inner voice said. Because really, what did he stand to lose?

They walked around the entire lake once before starting the next round of conversation. "We talked about first dates," Damon began.

Bonnie interrupted. "You didn't tell me anything about your first date."

Damon sighed and realized she was right. "It was with Katherine," he said. "We went to this private performance in the next town over for anonymity purposes. After the performance was over, Katherine had herself a lovely feast, eating everyone in sight, crushing human bones into powder all for shock value. It was my first time since the war seeing people being slaughtered. Fun times," he said sarcastically.

Chills ran through Bonnie and she questioned why Damon would willingly sentence himself to that kind of lifestyle. She was well aware of the lure a bad boy/girl could have on someone who had been good their whole life, but that was just taking things to a whole different extreme.

"Did you like being apart of that?"

He shrugged. "There were worst ways to pass the time."

Her eyes widened. "I think I'm ready to go," Bonnie stammered and let go of his hand and began walking back to the car. Damon sighed and followed after her, but caught Bonnie by the shoulder and swung her around.

"I can't help what I am. Killing is in my nature, Bonnie."

"But it wasn't when you were human, Damon. I understand…_that_ part of you now and I didn't when we first met, but…I don't understand why you would willingly want to become a vampire. Was life really that boring back then?"

"Yes!" he shouted to the heavens. "But there was more to it than that. I loved Katherine, and that's all I really focused on. Not the fact she was a raving, greedy, selfish lunatic, but because I loved her. And I thought she loved me."

"If you love someone, you don't make them do something evil or become evil. That should have been your first clue that what you had wasn't real. To her."

Damon gulped and stared down at Bonnie. In this moment he knew she wasn't trying to judge his prior actions, but that she was trying to make a point. Love wasn't evil. And if you loved someone you protected them from evil, not drive them to do evil unto others.

"I get that," he said. "And it's all in my past. I'm not that man anymore, and I think you know that."

Bonnie nodded her head and smiled. "I do know that."

"Good. You want to walk some more or head back?"

Bonnie ran her hands up and down her arms. "I think we should head back. The temperature is dropping and I didn't bring a jacket."

Wordlessly, Damon drew Bonnie closer until they stood chest-to-chest. Time seemed to crawl at a snail's pace and her heart began to beat just a little faster. It was a common symptom that happened any time she was near Damon. In the past her heart would accelerate but that was out of fear. She had stopped fearing Damon years ago it seemed. At present what had her heart vibrating was anticipation and lust.

Bonnie figured now would be the perfect time to clue Damon in on her dreams. But if she told him that her mind conjured this alternate reality where they were together how exactly would he take the news? Would he be mad and accuse her of using her witchy wiles on him to distract him from the girl he claimed to love before she slipped into a coma? Would he be pissed that she withheld that information from him so long because he had developed feelings for her, but hadn't been able to name what he felt for her until she regained consciousness? Bonnie just didn't know which fork in the road to take.

Someone decided to make the choice for her.

"Don't you two make a pretty sight."

Damon rolled his azure eyes, but didn't take a step away from Bonnie. If anything he tightened his arms around her like a shield. "I have that protection order, Kol. You come within five thousand feet of my sexy ass and I'll have you arrested."

The dark-haired Original chuckled and folded his arms. Bonnie found herself on the receiving end of his curious chocolate orbs. Kol had kept his distance from her at school but she was always aware of when he was watching her.

His gaze had the added benefit of making her skin crawl but also heating. Men like Kol hardly ever looked at girls like her as if she were dinner—in the good sense. It unnerved her yet also made her hyperaware but probably for all the wrong reasons.

Kol kept his smirk in place as his eyes boldly traced Bonnie's shape from head to toe and back again. And of course he knew that his presence irritated _the _living shit out of the elder Salvatore, which made this moment all the more glorious.

"What do you want?" the witch asked.

"I was just out for a stroll, darling, but I'm glad to have run into you. There's actually a little problem I wanted to discuss with you, Miss Bennett. May I have a moment?"

"Hell no," Damon inserted. "She's not going anywhere with you."

Kol shrugged. "Have it your way, mate, but just know until she talks to me I won't be going away. Every time you turn around, every time you try to carve a little privacy between the lot of you, I will be there." Kol's civility was replaced with cold objectivity.

Bonnie stepped out of Damon's arms, more like had to pry his arms from around her. In this case it would just be best to give Kol what he wanted because she certainly didn't want him popping up all over the place.

"Give us a minute," Bonnie said.

Damon stared down at her with incredulous eyes. No way in hell would he leave Bonnie alone with Kol. Other than turning his legs into pulp with a baseball bat, Kol had kept the lid on his crazy, but Damon knew he was a deviant of the highest grade.

Bonnie's hand slid down his arm until their fingers connected and Damon gave hers a reassuring squeeze. The action did not go unnoticed by Kol.

Holding out his hand for Bonnie to walk in front of him, Kol flashed one triumphant smile in Damon's direction.

"I know I've given you little reason to trust me, Bonnie, but I honestly mean you no harm."

Those were Damon's words, Bonnie reminded herself and even back then she knew they were lies.

"So what do you want from me, Kol? If you and your family are in need of a witch I can't and won't help you in that department."

Kol shook his head. "I'm not sure of what you know about the string of murders that have been cropping up all over town, but it's direly important you know this. For your own protection," Kol dug out the bullet and passed it over to Bonnie.

Taking the wooden bullet, Bonnie stared at the strange markings engraved in the wood. Her eyebrows drew together in confusion.

"Am I supposed to know what these markings mean?" she asked and stared up at Kol noticing he was practically looming over her. "I don't. I've never seen these before."

Kol nodded. He had suspected as much because these markings would precede her ancestor Emily whose grimoire Bonnie possessed. It was also the book he was sure contained the spell that would unlink his life from his siblings. And they needed to get their hands on it like yesterday.

"Well in the event you should come across them again would you be so kind as to inform me?"

"Why?"

Kol took the bullet from her and tucked it back into the safety of his pocket. "Because the one bearing that symbol, is no friend to you. "

"I'm not following, Kol. You gotta give me something more than some evasive warning. Who or _what _bears that mark?"

Sighing, Kol looked away for a moment. "Hunters, Bonnie. Hunters. Enjoy your night."

And naturally Kol had vanished before Bonnie could even question him on what kind of hunters. Was he talking about self-made hunters like Alaric, or another breed of hunters? Ones equipped with super speed, inhuman strength, and were impossible to kill? Those kind of hunters or something even more formidable than that?

Damon was behind her, jaw ticking. "That creep is full of shit. Don't listen to anything he has to say, Bonnie. Kol gets off on playing games. Not like it's a bad thing, but this is probably some ploy he's making up to get inside your head."

Bonnie faced Damon. "Maybe my head isn't his target."

That certainly targeted a memory. Damon's right eye twitched. He licked his lips. He'd find out that answer soon enough. For now he slung his arm over Bonnie's shoulder. "Well he's going to have a hell of a time accomplishing that since I plan to get there first," he leered.

It was with some difficulty that Bonnie ignored Damon's comment. "Murders," she murmured. "Kol said something about murders, and I remember you and Alaric leaving out one night because someone had been killed. You never gave me any details about that, Damon."

Inwardly, Damon groaned. He didn't want to ruin this night or drift it off course by talking about crime and murder.

"That's not for you to worry about, Bonnie. As far as Liz and the rest of the Sheriff's department can tell it's just your run-of-the-mill non-supernatural murder spree that's the newest edition of bullshit they have to deal with. End of story."

Bonnie wasn't buying that but for now she'd be willing to let it go. However, if hunters were tied into this and hunters seemed like a pretty big deal if an Original had gone out of his way to warn her, then maybe Damon shouldn't be so quick to dismiss it.

Unless of course he knew more than he was letting on, and history told Bonnie with Damon that was always the case.

He could practically read her thoughts since they were being broadcast on her forehead. "I don't know anything other than there's a vampire blood thief around, and bodies keep dropping like flies."

"So you have no leads on who might be a suspect?"

"No, Matlock I don't. If anything it's probably Kol or anyone of his fucked up siblings. And as long as the vampire that's being drained or used as a blood bag isn't me, I really don't care." Pause. "You and I were in the middle of something and I'd like to pick it back up."

Unfortunately for Bonnie the thrill was gone because all her mind could think of was that symbol on that bullet, and the fact it was going to take center stage in her life very soon.

**The following weekend**, Bonnie was packing her bags into the back of Stefan's Mustang. Damon watched them from the front door.

"Bring her back in one piece," Damon ordered.

Stefan rolled his eyes and closed the trunk. "Yes, father," he blurted and walked to the driver side of the car.

Bonnie approached Damon and reached for his hand. Once their fingers were linked he kissed her knuckles and stared intently in her eyes. There was an awkwardness between them after their first date that they both tried to deflect and ignore. When they touched it wasn't with the same reverence. Damon didn't want her to leave with Stefan for obvious reasons, but he trusted that nothing would happen between them because Bonnie had made it pointedly clear who she liked.

But now he doubted if she liked him the same thanks to the semi-disastrous end to their date.

"I'll call you when we get to DC," Bonnie told him.

"This is very unorthodox. You going out of town with my brother, but I get it. It's your birthday present," to which Damon rolled his eyes. "Have a good time, but not too much of a good time. Make sure Stefan keeps his hands and teeth to himself."

Bonnie chuckled a bit. "Anything else?"

Damon ran his thumb over her cheek with his free hand. There was so much he wanted to say, but refrained from doing so. "Bring me back something."

Bonnie rolled her eyes and then hugged him. They held one another for as long as they could until Stefan turned impatient and honked the horn.

"I better go," Bonnie said and pulled away. Damon watched her until she climbed into the car and continued to watch until the taillights of the Mustang disappeared from his sight.

**Damon had his ass** parked on a bar stool much later that night at Mystic Grill. He checked his phone and noticed he had a voice mail. Quickly retrieving his message he listened to Bonnie tell him that they made it to DC and she would try him again later if she wasn't tired. Yet what really had his blood on a slow simmer was the fact he could _hear _his brother breathing in the background.

In Damon's mind Stefan had no reason to be in Bonnie's room. Period. She was technically an adult and didn't require constant supervision. He debated for a full thirty minutes on whether or not to return her call and decided against it. Bonnie wasn't his girlfriend so there'd be no point to him acting like a jealous boyfriend.

But he was jealous. Bonnie was spending an entire weekend with his brother and he was going to do what exactly? Just the thought alone of taking out his frustrations on some dumb co-ed held no kind of appeal to Damon whatsoever.

When had he lost his edge? In the span of a few short weeks?

What he should do was hop in his car and burn rubber to DC. That's what he should do, but then that would be like willfully handing over the keys to his balls, and he wasn't about to do that.

Seething at his emasculation, Damon ordered another shot of whiskey.

**Her ears were ringing by** the time they left the Verizon Center. The energy of the crowd buzzed through Bonnie's system and she wholeheartedly convinced herself she could power an entire city block. Humming the lyrics to several of her songs performed by OneRepublic, she danced across the street with Stefan. He had an arm slung over her shoulder as they headed back to their hotel.

"That was so much fun!" Bonnie grinned from ear to ear and impulsively stood on her toes to kiss Stefan's cheek. He didn't seem too surprised by the gesture.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."

Her eyes were dancing as she thought over their night. Not only had Stefan managed to land front row tickets, but they were able to meet and greet the band. So the whole night was memorialized within her digital camera, and she couldn't wait to upload the images in her personal photo album and also on Facebook.

On occasion she thought about Damon. What he could be doing. If he was doing anything at all. And each time she thought to sneak away from her guardian to call him, Stefan would pull her in another direction with another activity they could do to kill the wait time for the concert.

And as much as Damon had been on her mind, there was a much larger craving Bonnie wanted to satiate. Hunger.

Stefan smiled when he heard her rumbling belly. He peered down at the diminutive witch. "Are we hungry?"

Bonnie stared at him sheepishly. "I could eat."

"There's this roof top Moroccan themed restaurant. We could give it a shot."

"Hmm," Bonnie moaned. "I've never had Moroccan food and this weekend is all about doing things I've never done before. Let's try it."

Approximately forty-five minutes later they were shown to…well it wasn't a table per se but to a stack of decorated pillows on top of a padded mat in a corner of the rooftop that offered some semblance of privacy. Bonnie looked over the choices on the menu and had no idea what she had a taste for, or what to order because all of the choices were foreign to her. She allowed Stefan to do the ordering.

A special spiced wine was served to them on gilt trays. Stefan picked up the two ruby red goblets, passing one over to Bonnie. They tapped their glasses together and took a sip.

"This is really nice," Bonnie said to break up the silence.

"But you're wishing you were sharing this moment with someone else," Stefan speculated.

The candles on the serving tray flickered a bit and it wasn't due to the wind. Bonnie's cheeks warmed and she fidgeted with her fingers before smiling self-deprecatingly. "Am I that obvious?"

"Only a little. I know I've been acting more free lately, but I'm still me. I still sense things."

"Have you ever considered that you might be emphatic?"

That question surprised Stefan because he honestly never gave it any thought. It would explain why when someone was hurt or feeling down he felt their emotions. At first he thought he merely did it to commiserate, but whatever another person was feeling: their pain, sorrow, or happiness became his own. Maybe that explained how reaching out to others came more easily to him than to his brother.

And speaking of his brother…

"When did things change between you and Damon?"

Bonnie nearly swallowed her sip of wine down her windpipe. "They changed…way before I woke up from my coma," Bonnie sat down her glass. "I haven't even told him this, not because I'm embarrassed but because I'm afraid of what might change between us."

Bonnie stopped talking once their food was brought to them. She thanked the waiter and then reached for a piece of flatbread and dipped it into the serving sauce.

"Well, you'll never know if you don't take a chance. I can say this. Damon is different with you," Stefan put in his two cents. Damon had always been different with Bonnie mainly because he wanted to earn her respect the old fashioned way, and because Bonnie didn't fall in line with everyone else it made Damon grumpy—needless to say. Honestly it was the first time in a _long _time Stefan watched his brother work hard for anything.

"I give him hell and he gives me hell," Bonnie said.

Stefan shook his head in the negative. "No, it was more than that. Sure he might have tied his humanity into loving Elena, but with you he was more of himself, if you get what I mean."

Bonnie shrugged. Only Stefan really knew Damon before they became vampires and could fill in that blank.

Yet it bothered her, the mention of Damon loving Elena. Did he still feel that way towards her best friend?

"Do you think Damon is still in love with Elena?" Bonnie asked timidly.

Stefan stopped chewing and thought for a moment. "I'm not sure. He and I never really talked about that after everything went down. He still cares about her, and I do, too, but for me that's as far as it goes."

Bonnie avoided making eye contact with Stefan although she could feel him observing her.

"The only way to know is to ask him," Stefan pointed out.

"I know."

"If you want my opinion, he needs someone like you, Bonnie. Someone to anchor him. Elena is an enabler. You, not so much. Damon never listens to a single thing I say, but he did listen to you. In the back of my mind I always wondered if something would develop between you two. But then I reminded myself you do have common sense," Stefan smiled.

Bonnie did too.

"My brother has heart," Stefan went on to say. "He just cared about the wrong things, the wrong people."

Hmm, Bonnie wondered. Was this in reference to Katherine or Elena or neither one of them? Yet this made Bonnie curious about something else.

"Are you…I never got around to asking you this because I feel like it's none of my business. But are you really okay with your current relationship status with Elena?"

"I am," Stefan answered definitively. "She made the right choice in letting me and Damon go. Our relationship was in the fucking garbage. She finally realized the damage she was inadvertently causing and she walked away. Yeah, I was feeling butt hurt and vindictive, but her leaving made me realize that I needed my brother more. So in a nutshell I'm glad that chapter of my life is over."

Bonnie had no other option but to take his words at face-value. She did, however, wonder if Damon took Elena's departure as easily. Probably not and that made annoyance lance through her.

She blocked it with another sip of the wine. "Tell me about that girl you had a date with last weekend?"

His fingers which were poised to deliver another morsel of food to his mouth, halted. Stefan wiped his hands and then reached for his cell phone. Not a second later he handed the device over to Bonnie and she stared at the image of the girl he was being all secretive about.

"She's beautiful," Bonnie looked at him. "What's her name?"

"Keiko. She just moved here a few months ago. We met at the Fell Charity auction."

Bonnie grinned and looked at the girl who kind of reminded her of the singer Amerie. "Is it serious? Does she know you're out of town with another female?"

Stefan nodded and took his phone back from Bonnie. "She knows that I was taking a close friend out of town. I might not have told her the sex of that friend, but…things are new. We're taking things very slowly."

"How soon can I meet her?"

Stefan groaned and fell back against the pillows. "You're going to have the two of us picking out china patterns for our wedding by the end of this trip. I can feel it."

Bonnie laughed again. "It's only fair to make you as uncomfortable as you're so intent on doing to me with your Damon comments."

He was guilty and knew it. "I don't mean to draw you into it, but Damon has crossed several boundaries in all of my relationships. Call this karma, but anything I can do to make him squirm I'm going to do it. Yea for me."

**All right, okay, so what **he missed her. Not hearing her voice for two whole days had driven him up the wall and he wanted to end his suffering. Damon picked up his phone and called Bonnie. He wasn't sure when Bonnie and Stefan would be heading back to their neck of the woods, but he spent the entire weekend being non-productive. He got absolutely _nothing _done that he told himself he would achieve all because he couldn't stop thinking about what Stefan and Bonnie were doing.

The phone rang and rang and finally someone answered.

"Bonnie's phone," Stefan said on the other end.

Damon's mouth was poised to be cool and collected but he hesitated upon hearing his brother's voice.

"What are you doing answering Bonnie's phone? Where is she?"

"In the shower."

Damon's eyes ballooned. Just exactly whose shower was she in?

"Oh, wait she's coming out. Hey Bon, it's Damon. Do you want to talk to him?"

Damon listened very intently to her voice in the background. "Tell him I'll call him back."

Again his eyes enlarged and Damon was sure he looked like he had a medical condition by this point.

"Did you hear that, Damon? She's dripping wet so she'll have to call you back," Stefan snickered.

Instead of saying anything else, Damon pressed the END button on his cell and barely resisted chucking it at the wall—again.

Bonnie entered the room dressed in a complimentary bathrobe. She ran a comb through her locks. "Did he say what he wanted?"

Stefan took a seat on the edge of the bed. "No. He just hung up."

"Hmm. I'll be ready in twenty minutes. Did you pack everything in the car already?"

Stefan nodded his head. "And I double checked the room to make sure you're not leaving anything behind."

Bonnie nodded her head, walked back into the bathroom, and shut the door.

**He was up and on **his feet by the time he heard the car doors slam and listened to their feet approaching the front door. Damon stood poised in his spot with a no-nonsense expression on his face. He had wasted the entire weekend thinking the unimaginable had occurred, and now the culprits of his ire had returned.

The front door swung open. Bonnie came into view and taking one look at her, Damon finally felt the culminating anxiety and frustration of his weekend ebb. On their return trip Bonnie had decided to wear a simple dress that she paired with a lightweight knit cardigan. On her feet were nude wedge sandals.

She jumped a little at seeing him because she hadn't expected Damon to be waiting right beside the door. "Hey!" she smiled and pulled her suitcase into the house.

When she tucked a stubborn strand of hair behind her ear it revealed a dark bluish-purple bruise on her neck. Instantly Damon reached for her arm, drew her close, tilted her neck, and inspected the bruise.

"Is that a hickey?"

"What?" Bonnie asked, incredulous.

Damon didn't give her the opportunity to respond to the allegation because in the next second he jacked Stefan by the collar of his shirt, threw him into a wall and started doing clever measurements with his fingers to his brother's teeth.

"Damon what are you doing?" Bonnie demanded. "Get off of him. This isn't a hickey."

He turned to look at Bonnie over his shoulder. "I think I know a hickey when I see a hickey."

Stefan used Damon's distraction to push his brother away from him. He pulled down his shirt, looked at Damon before shaking his head. "You are so fucking mental."

Damon watched Stefan with glacial eyes before stabbing Bonnie with them.

"This isn't a hickey, you dumbass. I burned myself with my flat iron this morning."

"Oh."

"Yes, _oh_," Bonnie rolled her eyes and reached for the handle of her suitcase, but Damon beat her to the punch. "I can take it upstairs."

"No, let me do it. I was being stupid."

"Yeah, you were," she agreed brutally and climbed the stairs to her room. Damon followed behind her like a chastised puppy.

He sat it down next to the door and watched Bonnie as she dumped her purse on the bed side table and took off her cardigan.

"How was your trip?" he asked to start a pleasant conversation.

"It was good. I had a fun time. I'd go more into detail but I didn't get much sleep the last few days and I'd like to take a nap," Bonnie approached Damon, took him by the arm and attempted to push him out the door. He wouldn't budge.

"I'll stay with you…until you fall asleep."

Bonnie searched his eyes and then shrugged. She was too tired to argue. She climbed into bed. Damon got in behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. Bonnie wiggled next to him until she was comfortable, her eyelids lowered, and within minutes she was fast asleep.

It shocked the hell out Damon how being next to her, being able to touch her felt so right. It wasn't until now he noticed the full extent of the impact Bonnie had made in his life, and the anxiety of her absence had caused within him. It was laughable really because this kind of intensity never happened to him before and he was struggling with how to process it.

He ran his fingers along her cheek, her arm, picked up her hand and kissed it. He bent a little forward and kissed her cheek, then her temple, and placed another one on her exposed shoulder. He smelled her hair, the hollow space where her neck and shoulder connected committing everything to memory. Damon listened to her heartbeat. To the blood rushing through the major arteries in her body. He listened to her soft snores, her deep breath. He was fully tuned to everything concerning Bonnie.

This weekend had been the first time in four months they spent any length of time apart. And constantly touching and kissing her, Damon wondered if he were inadvertently marking his territory.

"It's always you, Damon," Bonnie mumbled almost inaudibly in her sleep.

He stilled and was going to asked her what she said, but then she settled into a deep sleep again.

If he heard correctly, she said it was always him. What exactly did she mean by that? Damon settled behind her, resting his head almost on top of hers. It didn't take long before sleep caught up with him as well.

When Bonnie woke up it was night. She sat up in bed and looked beside her. The space next to her was empty yet the memory of Damon lying there warmed her like a fire. Bonnie got to her feet and stared out the window.

Her cell phone went off and she quickly retrieved it. "Hey Care. Yeah I'm back. The Grill? Sure I'm on my way."

Ducking into the bathroom, Bonnie relieved herself, washed her hands, face, brushed her teeth, and stepped into her shoes. She didn't spot Stefan or Damon anywhere in the lower part of the house and wondered if she should leave them a note telling them where she was headed. Bonnie decided against it. They weren't her parents but her roommates. She'd text them when she got to The Grill.

Thankfully her Prius had been parked in the boardinghouse garage since she woke up from her coma. She got her keys, and started the engine of her first and only car. Her sense of freedom increased ten-fold as she took the familiar streets to the only decent restaurant in town.

About halfway into her trip, it began to rain. Bonnie flicked on the wipers and slowed her speed. She wasn't averse to driving in the rain but things had a tendency to jump out at her in the middle of the road, and she certainly didn't want to get into an accident.

And just as she was coasting along naturally someone had to be standing in the middle of the street. Bonnie slammed on the brakes and her car skidded sideways but didn't jack knife or crash into the ditch. Heart pounding against her ribcage, Bonnie glared at the figure.

Damon inconspicuously slid his cell phone into his back pocket. Blondie finally came through for once.

Bonnie opened up her car door and got out. "Damon! What are you doing? Were you trying to cause me to wreck?"

She approached him and thrust both of her hands out and struck his chest. It was nothing more than a glancing blow.

His hair was completely soaked from the rain which meant he had been standing out here for a while. His black T-shirt was molded to his body like a cast. "You said something in your sleep," he began without preamble. "You said, 'It's always you, Damon'. What did you mean by that?"

The anger that was burning alongside her fear evaporated and was replaced with mortification. Bonnie blinked rapidly against the rainwater that pummeled her eyes as she stared up at him.

Licking her lips nervously Bonnie thought back to what she was dreaming. In her dream she and Damon had gotten into an argument about her friendships with other men, and she told him that no matter what it would always be him, she would always choose him.

Damon felt his impatience rising the longer she remained silent.

"I meant…it's always you, Damon. No matter who comes into my life, everything goes right back to you."

Well, he wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing, but from the way she said it he was hoping it was a good thing.

Damon cleared what little space there was separating them. "I'm tried of fighting this…whatever _this_ is between us, Bonnie. This entire weekend I warred with myself in driving up to DC to break up your little party with Stefan, and I had to constantly remind myself that we're not together." Pause. "I should probably leave you alone."

Bonnie felt her chest constrict.

But when Damon cupped her face she melted against his touch. "But I can't," he said. "And I don't want to."

She smiled up at him. "So don't."

"I have no right to want to be with you," Damon went on to say, his thumb tracing her bottom lip.

Bonnie grabbed him by the back of his neck. "You have every right to be with me, Damon, just like I have every right to be with you. Let me be with you."

"There _is_ no going back," he said on a low growl and pulled Bonnie forward just as she pulled him down.

Their lips crushed together like water breaking against rocks. Tepid lips sealed over Bonnie's and at first it was just a volleying between sucking on his lower lip before drawing the top one between her teeth. Damon licked across the seam of her lips demanding entry into her hot mouth and Bonnie widened her jaw.

Tongues licked against one another before writhing together like snakes. Damon picked her up by the waist. Bonnie wrapped her legs around him and the next thing she felt was the warmth of her car hood against her back.

The frigid rainwater beat against their bodies but they didn't care. Steam rose from the car hood and engulfed them. Goose bumps broke out over Bonnie's skin. She moaned into Damon's mouth and tunneled her fingers through his ink-black hair, and scraped against his scalp.

Damon devoured her lips like a starved man sitting in front of a seven course meal. It wasn't long before he trailed kisses along her jaw and down her neck. His hands ran up the length of her legs, over her knees and thighs, before clamping around her waist to keep her complacent.

Bonnie pulled his head back up by the chin, and took his lips again in another bruising kiss that nearly split her lip. They really should get out of the road, and the rain, and take this back to the privacy of the boardinghouse.

Damon must have been on the same wavelength as her, because he pulled away, stared down at her with those panty dissolving eyes of his. He pushed her wet bangs off her forehead, nipped her lips, before kissing her senselessly again.

Bonnie tightened her legs around his lean waist wishing they could get physically closer to one another.

"We should go back to the house," Damon suggested gravelly. Bonnie nodded. Instead of separating, Damon buried his fingers in her hair which was nothing more than sodden ropes that fanned out against the hood. He wrapped his arm around her waist, drew her up and walked to the passenger side door, lips still connected with Bonnie's.

Bonnie moaned and melted into him like hot candle wax even while Damon fumbled with opening the door. She sucked his tongue into her mouth and refused to let go.

Her lungs were screaming for a breath yet Bonnie refused. It wasn't until Damon was pushing her into the car that she let go long enough.

He cursed once he sat in the driver's seat. His knees crashed into the steering wheel. "My God I forgot what a shrimp you are."

Bonnie reached over and pinched his nipple, but Damon put the car in reverse, did a sharp 3-point turn and headed back home—_their_ home.

He barely had the car placed into park when Bonnie was out. He reached for her the same time she jumped up on him, locking him between her legs. With the use of her powers she threw the front door open, and Damon utilizing his vampire speed pressed her back against the door to his room—munching on her lips.

They tumbled inside and Damon carried Bonnie over to the bed where he not-so-gently tossed her on top of it. She bounced and stared up him and leaned back on her elbows. She watched with lust-filled orbs as Damon tugged his soaked shirt off. He reached for her left foot and pried her sandal off and did the same with the right. Bonnie took her cardigan off and it joined his shirt on the floor.

Damon playfully nipped her lips again before taking possession of them once again. His body pushed Bonnie back on the bed and she wasted no time running her fingers along his spine, and slipped a hand into his jeans were she grabbed his butt.

Spurned on by this, Damon began to grind into Bonnie as his hands ripped her dress clean down the middle.

Bonnie sat up again and pushed the ruined material off her shoulders. Her chest heaved with anticipation as Damon looked at her mischievously. He ducked his head and licked a trail from the valley between her breasts, up her neck, along her jaw, before tracing her bottom lip. Bonnie stuck her tongue out and Damon laved it with his own.

Her hand held on to him by the neck, while his hand squeezed her breast. Bonnie switched their positions until she sat astride him. She leaned down and kissed him deeply.

"I choose you, Damon. Just like in my dreams it's always going to be you."

Chapter end.

**A/N: Its official, they're together, yea! I cut down on the Stefonnie this chapter because in the original there was lots of it. And when I first posted I flirted with possibly doing the Bonnie/Stefan/Damon triangle but decided against it and created a new love interest for Stefan. She will be popping up later and I hope in this chapter that some of your concerns were answered in terms of Stefan having a thing for Bonnie. So let me state for the record there will be NO triangles, or squares, or pentagons, or hexagons. This will be straight Bamon. Nothing more and nothing less. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Bonnie will be coming clean about her dream soon enough and the hunters or one of them might be making a guest appearance. Stay tuned. Love you guys! Please review.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: You guys, my babies, my chicas, my kittens really did show up and show out when it comes to reviews! I really wasn't expecting the flood that I got so thank you so much from the bottom of my little fangirl heart. *squeals* I can't say thank you enough. THANK YOU! This just goes to show that the BB/Bamon fandom is the absolute fucking best! **

**On Tumblr there's just been an explosion of Bamon fanart, gifsets, all this wonderful stuff that I knew I couldn't postpone with an update so here is the latest.**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. Except for my OC's. No copyright infringement is intended.

**He pulled over to the side **of the road because his cell reception kept going in and out. He must really be off the beaten path if he kept entering one dead zone after another, and somehow it all seemed fitting. The place he was destined for, he had been told that it crawled with vampires. This had better not be bullshit, Connor Jordan thought as he walked to the back of his pickup hoping to increase the strength of his cell frequency.

Finally getting more than one bar on his signal, he quickly dialed his unofficial headquarters just to check in. Living a hunter's lifestyle meant it was one constant act of discipline after another. And required a life of solitude and separation. Not everyone was cut out for it. But in his world, a hunter could never go longer than two weeks without giving a status update on whatever case they were working. Cleanup had to be a quick and efficient practice, removing all traces of their involvement so that their clandestine existence remained just that.

However, there were some places they were forbidden from entering. Some cities where they let the trash burn itself out. The place where he was headed had been sanctioned as one of those places, but now that they had strong Intel it was the epicenter of the new, growing threat, it had to be dealt with expeditiously.

Another hunter had been sent before him but had unfortunately fallen off the grid. That was never a good sign.

After a few seconds of waiting impatiently, the hunter's call was connected. "It's Jordan. I'm about fifteen miles away…no I don't think I've been followed…New Orleans was easy…almost _too_ easy. I'll call when I set up camp, and then try to touch bases with Val…yeah if he's alive."

Ending the call, Connor stuffed his cell into the back pocket of his jeans and conspiratorially looked around. Virginia was one of those states rumored to be a good place to start a family, yet from the endless accounts he had of random animal attacks and mysterious and unsolved disappearances it was a hotbed for paranormal activity. It was right there for anyone to see if they knew what they were looking for. Maryland had the Blair Witch. Virginia was for vampires. That was the new motto.

Getting back inside his truck, Connor continued on his way to Mystic Falls.

**There was a burst of activity **when several of Klaus' well-trained and most obedient hybrids came crashing through the front door. With pursed lips, Klaus marched to the foyer and then waited for his second-in-command to step forward and explain the abrupt interruption to his morning.

"What is the meaning of this, Felix?"

Felix whose hair was flaxen and stood just an inch taller than Klaus stepped aside so the Original Hybrid could see what they literally dragged off the street.

It was man in black clothing that was stained with blood. His head fell limply, his hair matted with sweat and blood. Klaus flicked his eyes at Felix then back to the captured man.

"Lift him up," he commanded.

The hybrids who were keeping the man from kissing the ground jerked him up violently. The one standing on his right grabbed the hair on the crown of the man's head and wrenched it as far back as he could without snapping the poor fellow's neck. Klaus quickly calculated the severity of his injuries, listened to the furious pounding of his heart. He was in no danger of dying.

Not yet at least.

"Who are you?" Klaus questioned coldly.

Felix opened his mouth to respond but Klaus was quick to silence him with a raised finger.

The man defiantly said nothing which came as no surprise to Klaus. He was used to dealing with difficult idiots on a daily basis, lived and dined with them as well and had the misfortune of calling them family.

Klaus moved along to the next order of business. "Let me see his right hand."

The hybrid on the right pulled up the dirty sleeve of the cotton hoodie the man was wearing. Klaus stepped but a fraction closer. His lips drew back from his teeth when he noticed that the man wasn't bearing the mark of one of The Five.

He turned his furious orbs on Felix who fidgeted a little. "Who the hell is this?"

"He's the vampire blood peddler," Felix informed Klaus. "We ambushed him after he made another delivery."

Sighing, Klaus shook his head and pivoted on his heels. "You know what to do with him. But question him first before disposing of the body."

Felix curtly nodded his head before shelling out orders, but then found Klaus standing in front of him once again.

"And next time don't interrupt my morning with this bullshit. Come to me with something important. Like that gotdamn hunter. I could care less about a vampire blood thief!"

"Yes, sir," Felix bowed his head and took a step back. His attention was soon thwarted to a young female probably no more than twenty years old trying to stuff pertinent body parts back into her dress.

Klaus smiled in acknowledgment but otherwise said nothing to her. Once she stepped up to Klaus she immediately tried to kiss him but he caught by the wrists to hold her off. He stared intently in her eyes.

"You were at a frat party and things got a little rough. You don't know my face or where I live. Speak of me to anyone and I will kill you while your boyfriend watches. Understood?"

The young woman shivered a bit in fear yet nodded bleakly.

"Get the door for her, Felix."

The hybrid was quick to do as he was ordered and tossed open the door allowing the unidentified female to stumble her way out into the bright morning sun.

**Her lips were swollen**, the skin raw, chapped, drained of its natural oil. Her hair mostly resembled a bushel of tumbleweed. The left strap of her bra had fallen down nearly exposing her tit. Damon listened to the cadence of her breath, the even _thump, thump _of her heart. His cerulean eyes scanned down the planes, valleys, and dips of her body relishing in the fact that she was all his. All his. She was a bonafide gift from the gods, fashioned from the greatest clay on earth.

This might be a premature revelation for him to make, but Damon was positive that Bonnie Bennett was that missing piece of him. He had lived long enough to know that something had _always _been missing, and he had tried to find it but it was invariably with the wrong people. But Bonnie filled a spot which had been void long enough. Now all he had to do was not fuck it up.

Bonnie opened her eyes and was the least bit surprised to find Damon staring at her. His gaze had always been heavier than most. He was the kind of man who sometimes revealed everything he was feeling in those orbs, and then sometimes they resembled glaciers of obstinacy. Nothing got in and nothing got out.

The morning sunlight danced on both of their skin warming Bonnie considerably. She stretched her arms over her head and wiggled her toes.

"Good morning," Damon said at long last coming to rest on his side, propping himself up with his elbow.

"Morning," Bonnie yawned. She smiled until her cheekbones looked inflated with too much air. Then her smile turned into a pout.

Damon traced the shape of her chin. "What's with the duck lips?"

"I thought you would have woken me up under less traditional means."

A smirk curled his lips deviously and in the next second he was on top of Bonnie, but he was pulling her off the bed. Her feet never touched the floor since she had been flung over Damon's shoulders like a sack of potatoes. Bonnie kicked her feet uselessly while trying not to giggle, but a few escaped and she wondered if she had ever felt this carefree in her entire life.

Probably not or it may have been a while ago.

Damon was incredibly strong that went without saying, so it wasn't much of a struggle for him to hold her steady with one arm while he turned on the shower head. He held his hand underneath, testing the water before lowering Bonnie to the ground.

She looked at the crystal clear water that flowed from the large round shower head and bit a corner of her lip. Bonnie had been partially nude with Damon but never stood in front of him in full buff. Her body was already blushing but she shook out her tangled locks, and maintained eye contact with him as he gripped his pajama pants and lowered them.

Bonnie's eyes widened so she could see everything. Damon was not overly muscular like a body builder on steroids, but he was more muscular than the average man. He was just a column of corded muscle under pale-white flesh with just a dusting of dark hair covering his legs. But her eyes couldn't help but get stuck on his slightly hardened dick.

"Do you like what you see?" he asked seductively. "It gets bigger."

Bonnie was prepared to respond with a flippant remark, but it died the minute Damon cupped himself and began to move his fist up and down his manhood to prove his point.

_Oh wow. What was he at now? Nine inches?_

Bonnie was positive her brain was malfunctioning as the seat of her panties became drenched.

Damon pointedly cleared his throat and then hitched an eyebrow at Bonnie waiting for her to follow suit.

Her fingers all of a sudden grew stiff. She was standing in front of him in her bra and panties but she was on the fence if she wanted to reveal anything more.

"I'll do it for you if you don't hurry up."

It wasn't a threat Bonnie realized because his tone of voice was more playful than sinister. Yet she still got a rush. Bonnie turned her back on Damon and then looked at him over her shoulder.

His fingers instantly went for the clasp in her bra and quickly snapped it off. Then his hands were at her waist slipping two fingers under the lace waistband of her panties and they were being lowered to the marble floor.

Bonnie lifted her legs accordingly while hugging her arms to her chest. Her eyes darted up to the wood bean ceiling nervously, and she jumped when Damon's nose brushed against one bare ass cheek.

He liked the fact she was so nervous around him, but he didn't want her to be. When he was back in a standing position, he kissed her shoulder. "I don't want you to be afraid of me. Only be afraid if I ever chose to stop."

"Stop what?" Bonnie asked past the dryness in her mouth.

His fingers crawled down her stomach, past her navel, until finally getting lost in the trimmed springy curls covering her mound. His grin increased when Damon noticed she was already wet, and that's how he always wanted her to be. Always ready for him. Always hot and bothered and horny.

"Stop this," Damon ravenously kissed her neck and shoulder while his other hand came up to cup and knead her breast. His thumb and forefinger pinched and squeezed the sensitive numb and pulled until it was stretched to its maximum length before releasing it.

Bonnie groaned and panted. With Damon standing behind her pushing his erection between the crack of her ass and his fingers sliding and flicking her stiff clit, he inched her closer to the shower until they were both standing under the water.

"Put your hands on the wall and lift your leg," Damon instructed.

"Damon…I'm not ready for _that_!" Bonnie spurted fretfully.

Damon was not an idiot. His fingers had experience and they were telling him that Bonnie was not _experienced _very much in this region of her body. Part of him wanted to feel offended she'd think he go from making out to having sex with her in the span of a couple of hours. Though he had done much more in less time with plenty of people he didn't give a rats ass about. Well, that's who he was. The reputation he worked tirelessly to earn. But she was different. She wasn't some nameless, faceless floozy he just wanted to drain and fuck. She was special.

"Calm down, witchy I'm not going to drive my dick in you and pound away. Not yet at least. We have plenty of time for that. I just want to eat you out, that's all," Damon replied nonchalantly.

He can be so romantic, Bonnie thought drolly. "Oh," she said and then lifted her leg feeling like a dog about to take a piss on a fire hydrant. This is so not sexy, Bonnie lamented.

Damon studied her for a moment. "Oh second thought, turn around and face me."

Bonnie did as told and held his gaze not wanting to witness the fact she was standing completely naked in the shower with Damon Salvatore.

Her eyes did follow as Damon lowered to his haunches and then he was bracing her legs over his shoulders one at a time and then he was standing. Just like in her dream.

Bonnie was impressed her heart still beat inside of her chest.

"Thank god for high vaulted ceilings," he mumbled just seconds before slipping his wet and talented tongue down her slit.

For the next thirty minutes Bonnie was in pure heaven.

**Convincing Miss Do Right to **cut class was no easy feat, but Damon managed. There was some place he wanted to show her, and yes she needed to miss school for this impromptu trip. Cutting the engine of his classic Camaro, Damon flashed over to Bonnie's side of the car and opened the door. He reached for her hand and assisted her out of the vehicle. Her eyes were busy taking in the surroundings because all she saw no matter the direction in which she looked, she saw nothing but woods.

"Where are we?"

Damon had retrieved a blanket from the trunk, reached for Bonnie's hand, and the two of them began walking.

There was a stone pillar, what was left of it anyways, about fifty feet away from their current location. Maybe it had been part of an elaborate gate and Bonnie wondered if they were standing on an old residential property. If so, who did it belong to?

They stopped walking when they found a clearing in the overgrown fauna and Damon spread the blanket on the ground. He sat down and tapped his legs to which Bonnie straddled him, facing him.

"Welcome to my home."

Bonnie looked around again and thought he was joking. "This is your home?"

"Well," he hunched a shoulder. "It used to be. This was the house I told you about that was burned to the ground in 1888. That pillar over there is the only thing that remains of the original Salvatore house. Right now we're currently in the parlor."

Bonnie smiled. It was both exciting yet poignant at the same time. She couldn't imagine showing up at her childhood home one day, years down the road, with nothing more substantial than a brick step as the only marker her house once stood there.

"This was the house I loved and hated. The house where I was born. The house that would have been passed down to me if I hadn't been such a disappointment to my father."

"You really think your father hated you?" Bonnie asked.

Damon looked away. "He never hid his distaste. Not like I didn't give him reason to."

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "You were just born before your time."

He looked at her then and grinned. "I knew I there was a reason why I always liked you."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Please, you didn't like me."

Damon brushed her long hair off her shoulders so he could admire the jumping vein in her neck. It had been such a long time since he fed from anyone. He licked his lips and felt his gums throbbing.

"That's where you're wrong, Judgey. I _did _like you. Even tried to draw up a truce with you—more than once. But you shut me down every time. Played hard to get."

"Yeah, right," Bonnie was skeptical. Damon was a fairly decent actor but he wasn't that great of an actor. Bonnie knew he couldn't stand her and the feeling was mutual.

"I used to have dreams about you," he confessed. Bonnie felt her heart stall just prior to it torpedoing in her chest. "We'd start off arguing over a stupid spell and then one thing would lead to another and we'd have hot angry sex right there in front of the Scooby-Doo gang."

Bonnie shook her head. "You are such a pervert."

"Hey, having sex dreams is perfectly natural. Pul-leeze, don't act like you've _never _had one."

Bonnie gnawed on her lip and became interested in a beetle that was crawling across the blanket as if to say 'don't mind me'.

Damon tilted her chin up so he could make direct eye contact with her. "Did you have sex dreams about me?" he couldn't stop himself from smirking. "Your heart is already telling me the answer to that question so you might as well come clean."

Bonnie blew out a breath. "This has been eating at me long enough."

Damon stared at her and Bonnie slid off his lap but remained seated facing him. He kind of wished he brought some popcorn along.

Bonnie didn't immediately divulge the truth. Instead she brushed a long lock of hair that was stuck to her neck, off. Her skin was becoming balmy. The days were warming up now that it was spring.

She made eye contact with Damon and then, "When I was in a coma…the only parts I remember clearly are the memories involving you. In my head, Damon we were together." The wind blew and rustled the trees—distracting Bonnie. "We were a couple and we were happy and our sex life was _ah-mazing_. And those feelings of warmth and joy stuck with me even after I woke up."

Damon lost his eyebrows to his hairline. "So," he drew the word out," let me get this straight. For four months you dreamt of nothing but having wild, crazy sex with me, we were together, and all those lovey-dovey feelings…you still felt them after regaining consciousness?"

"Yes," Bonnie admitted. "But it wasn't four months that we carried on. The dreams probably started in the last month of my coma. I mean, my skin, my body was just on fire for you. And it happened so spontaneously and made no sense, but we just clicked, and everyone we cared about knew, and then…" she took a deep breath. "The last dream I had about us you had taken me to a log cabin in The Poconos. You actually flew me up there yourself," she smiled. "We got freaky out on the deck, and the next morning, I woke up, made breakfast, and we spent the rest of the day in bed until our return flight home.

"A storm rolled in and you tried to beat it but lightning took out both engines of the plane and we crashed. The impact of the crash was enough that it literally woke me up. And when I saw you…"

The memory of Bonnie's first day back to lucidity hit Damon like a sledgehammer. Bonnie had been so happy to see him. That had been the reason why? Because in her mind they were together?

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," he whispered, and felt an extreme case of vertigo. "So this whole time you've been fighting your feelings for me?"

Bonnie nodded her head.

"And that's why you fought me so hard?" he argued.

"I wouldn't exactly say I fought hard, but yeah, it was part of the reason why I just didn't want to give in."

"Because you were afraid everything was one-sided."

"You know it was."

He couldn't deny that. To some degree. At the time she rejoined the living he only viewed Bonnie as the resident witch; the girl who saved his ass. But, even Damon had to admit that the mornings he spent watching over her still form, a bond grew between them.

Damon would be the first to admit he didn't particularly like caring for people, not even other vampires. He had watched Rose deteriorate from this powerfully strong yet hopelessly lost and guarded vampire into a rabid zombie. Other than Alaric she was his friend, and he cared for her in the only way he really knew how back then. Watching her die affected him more than he could have ever anticipated, but in his typical fashion he quickly processed it for what it was and got over it. Rose mounted to be just another sad disappointment in a procession of disappointments in his life.

Things were slightly different with Bonnie. He didn't share the same repertoire with Bonnie that he held with Rose obviously. Getting inside the witch's panties was a fleeting thought that most men had when they encountered a beautiful young woman. And it never went any deeper than the superficial with Damon. Yet when he would hold vigil by her bedside knowing she wasn't dead, he couldn't help but view her as being lifeless because of her unresponsiveness.

In his own way, Damon had come to feel responsible over Bonnie. He liked pretending that being the bad guy was the role he wanted to fulfill, but it was an odd thing—saving someone's life literally being a person's lifeline that made him feel more alive than human blood flowing through his veins.

No, he never thought he would be the one to save Bonnie, to wake her up, but apparently he had done so without putting in any effort.

The fractured rock that encased his soul just got another crack.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Damon asked pointedly.

Bonnie wrung her hands together. "What was I supposed to say? Hey, Damon in my head we fucked a bunch of times so lets get together?"

"Well, not say it like that," he conceded, "but you could have told me!"

"I was so confused when I woke up. I-I didn't know if you were with Elena or someone else. I mean, I had no incentive to put myself out there. And did I hope the feelings would go away—sure. But they didn't."

Damon paused and thought for a moment. So did this mean she was with him by default? If she never had any explicit dreams about him, would that mean they wouldn't be here now?

More than likely. Yet at the end of the day what did it really matter? People's decisions were influenced a hundred thousand ways a day. So what if she got a little push from her subconscious and the fact he might have said explicit things to her. Bonnie wanted him and that was final. He had used more destructive means in the past to get what he wanted.

And she chose _him. _

He swallowed. "Does this mean you know about what almost happened between me and your cousin?"

Bonnie nodded again. "Why did you stop?"

He grabbed her hand. "I wasn't sure before, but now I know the reason. She wasn't you."

A lopsided grin bloomed on her face.

"I figured," Damon went on to say, "if I was going to bang a Bennett it would be Bonnie Bennett," he leered.

Bonnie snorted, "I'm going to take that as the compliment I'm sure you meant it to be and overlook the fact you totally dissed my cousin."

Damon tugged Bonnie until she straddled his legs again. "Lucy is a great girl. She knows she has a special place in my little black heart. But she just doesn't compare to you."

"Yeah, right," Bonnie dipped her head shyly. "Lucy is a lot of things I'm not. She has _way_ more life experience than I do."

Damon lifted her chin. "I don't care about that. I want to be your teacher. Come to think of it I had a dream I _was _your teacher."

The back of Bonnie's neck grew hot. "So you don't even regret you missed an opportunity?"

"Bonnie, you can ask anyone about the drought I've been in," the dark-haired vampire snorted. "It was self-induced mostly. Lucy…Elena…drunk girl at the Grill I can say now were stand-ins."

The young witch stared at Damon curiously. "So Elena has been regulated to a stand-in role now?"

"I understand why you'd have hang-ups about me and Elena. Here's the truth. When she walked away I decided I wasn't going to chase her. I had wasted the whole of my immortality chasing the memory of Katherine and I replaced her with Elena. I promised myself that I wouldn't repeat history in that regard, and so far I'm doing pretty good."

Pensively Bonnie nibbled a corner of her lip. "Do you…I mean obviously you still care about her…love…her…"

Damon momentarily looked up at the cerulean sky. "I mean I love her like you'd love a friend, I guess, but I'm not in love with her. Sometimes I question if I ever truly was."

Bonnie figured she could live to be a hundred and she'd never hear Damon confess that he wasn't sure if he had honestly fallen in love with her best friend. Yet with his confession the uncertainty about his feelings for Elena had been put to rest.

"Why do you question it?" Bonnie asked just to be sure.

"You know why, Bonnie. You were a witness to my less-than-noble behavior when it came to Elena Gilbert. I hated Stefan. I wanted to make him miserable and I knew exactly which buttons to push."

For a just a second Bonnie was staring into the eyes of the old Damon Salvatore. The one who crept into town and as a result bodies started dropping like flies. Bonnie had mourned the fact she hadn't picked up on his otherness sooner. She might have been able to save those people, but she doubted it. She was just coming into her own with her powers and he had decades of being a killer under his belt. It literally was no match between them.

Bonnie switched off those thoughts. She didn't want to think about the kingdom of corpses her newly christened boyfriend's throne rested on.

"You're completely over her?" Bonnie questioned.

Damon nodded. "I am." The darkness that had settled over Damon's features evaporated as he looked at her. "What about you and _your _Gilbert? Are you sure you're over him? I know a way to make sure he stays gone—permanently."

"Lay a finger on him and suffer my wrath, Damon. No pussy for you that's for sure."

A wounded expression overcame Damon's veneer. "Don't be cruel woman because the pussy is _so _sweet."

Although she should be getting used to the things that rolled off Damon's tongue it still made her blush like a virgin to hear him talk lewdly.

Bonnie cleared her throat. "Cheating is not negotiable. I care about him because I've known him his whole life, but I'm not looking to go back. Things are finished between us. Okay?"

Damon shrugged. He'd take what Bonnie said under advisement but that didn't mean he wouldn't pull little Gilbert aside to have a man-to-boy conversation with him. Now if his hands just happened to be wrapped around Jeremy's neck while this discussion was taking place, he really couldn't be blamed for that.

His eyes scanned her, his mind instantly tumbling to his happy place. Bonnie who appeared to be on the same wavelength looked at him with equal hunger burning in her moss green eyes.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" Bonnie mumbled quietly.

"When we put our heads together our plans work, right?" Damon skimmed his fingers along her thigh and felt her shiver.

Bonnie nodded.

"So what makes you think this _isn't_ a good idea? Because you're a witch and I'm a vampire? We had a rough start, but we can have an awesome finish."

"Have you always been this confident?"

The crooked smile he delivered told Bonnie everything she needed to know.

Damon ran his fingers through her soft thick hair. "My poor little Bonnie filled with so much doubt. I should convince you that I'm worth it. That _we're_ worth it."

"You should," she agreed.

"Where should I start?"

Bonnie replied eagerly, "With my lips."

He kissed her, slid his icy tongue in and out of her mouth until she moaned. Damon lowered her to the blanket. "What else should I do, princess?" he whispered softly.

"My neck is feeling neglected."

Damon didn't need to be told twice. He latched on. He was perfectly content with kissing along her edible neck, but his canine tooth had a mind of its own and grazed her skin until it drew blood. Damon quickly lapped it up. Bonnie hissed in return. She knew what just took place and she contemplated her next request.

Yet she wanted to look at him as she said it. Pushing him back slightly, Bonnie cupped his cheeks. "Damon," she whispered his name. "Bite me."

The vampire in question jaw slackened. "You need to be sure about that. Are you sure? Once I do there's no going back."

Bonnie hesitated and then turned her head to the side in silent invitation. "…bite me..."

If she kept talking to him like that he would ask her to marry him. Damon's fangs fully lengthened, he stretched his jaw wide and then very slowly, centimeter by centimeter he inserted his teeth into her delicate neck. Damon held her tightly when Bonnie tensed at the penetration. He wanted this to be as pleasurable for her as it was for him.

Bonnie gripped him tightly, balled his t-shirt in her hands, and listened as Damon drank her blood. This was a far cry from the first time he bit her when his blood lust had been fueled by pain, hurt, and rage.

The wind stirred. The grass around them seemed to ripple like a wave, clouds began to roll by faster. It felt like the entire planet was shifting, not just them but nature itself. Doors were opening, boundaries were being made obsolete.

Things would never be the same again.

Bonnie's living blood traveled through him incinerating Damon from the inside and it was the good kind of burn. The type you didn't want to be treated. His control was slipping and a small part of him was saying abort, he wasn't ready, but he knew he had to.

Reluctantly he pulled away, licked her blood off his lips and made sure his face was normal before staring down at her again.

A tear slid from the corner of her eye. Horror filled him.

"Did I hurt you?"

Bonnie shook her head. Her body was so taut that if he kissed her she just might cum. "I'm fine."

"How do you feel?"

"If you touch me…I might come."

Damon chuckled and deliberately licked her cheek. Bonnie jerked away and glared at him.

"I mean it, Damon."

"I want you unhinged. Hell, I want you period. Let me feel you, princess. Let me cum inside."

"Damon," Bonnie's voice was strangled. "Stop."

Damon licked his bite mark on her neck, and was kind of proud of his handiwork. Bonnie's skin vibrated under his tongue and she wiggled under him. He could feel her fighting it, the inevitable release, and continued to work his tongue back and forth across her neck, before finally capturing her lips.

They began to float.

Alarmed Damon stared down at the ground and then looked to Bonnie. "Let's see if we can reenact something from your dream."

Bonnie smiled and wrapped herself more tightly around Damon. "We never did anything while airborne."

"Then we should fix that," he vowed.

**Keen dark brown eyes **watched the crowd mill about gathered in clusters of three or four or sitting down to enjoy an early dinner. Connor Jordan sat off to the side, in the back where he had an unobstructed view of the entrance. This place, this small town in Virginia would be another makeshift home although that phase didn't really apply to him. He had no one, not a home he could claim because all of his attachments to his previous life had to be cut off.

He supposed that should bother him, but when you only had one persistent thought on the brain it was hard to remember what it was like to live in a place where you had established some roots.

Spread out before him was a medium rare T-bone steak, a mountain of garlic potatoes and a butter roll. The food was a prop really. The beer not so much. It was his second one. His nourishment came in the form of spilling the blood of immortals on whatever surface was readily available. It was about evening out the playing field. Connor guessed for some sentimental value it was about protecting human life, or at least making a way for the next generation of hunters.

Connor knew he couldn't do this forever and the life expectancy of a hunter was no more than ten years—if you were lucky.

But he was here putting together a list of sorts. A list of players, those he suspected might be of the undead variety and a list of those who might be sympathizers to their plight. He had picking out vampires down to a science but even he could admit to being wrong occasionally. Connor resisted making the cross over himself. The only churches he stepped foot in where those that had been demolished or left to decay. Hallowed ground.

His eyes lowered momentarily to what he had scribbled down so far.

_Danvers (?)_

_Carson (?)_

_Fleetwood(?)_

_Forbes(+)_

_Salvatore(+)_

Hunters and witches sometimes traveled in the same circles, and he learned a few things along the way. He knew that for a price some witches could make daylight talismans for vampires who wanted to pass for human, wanted to walk in the sunlight. And those daylight talismans came in the form of a ring with a lapis lazuli stone. In the hour he had been here already Connor had come across three people with rings all bearing that precious stone. But still…it could be a family heirloom, a popular piece of jewelry that's made here. It would be a rare thing indeed for more than one vampire to have a ring like that. Three? He'd need a little bit more proof but he couldn't be quick to dismiss anything.

His waitress came back over with another beer.

"Thank you," Connor said and then passed a folded hundred dollar bill over to Tanya who had supplied him with the names of his suspected prey.

Tanya's eyes widened and she quickly slipped the cash into the back pocket of her jeans.

He slid a piece of paper over for Tanya to read asking who the Salvatore's were connected to, who they hung out with. He couldn't take the risk of asking his probing questions out loud. Connor knew vampires had excellent hearing.

Tanya looked around discreetly, and then taking her notepad she began to write furiously and slid the little document over to the hunter once she was finished. "Is there anything else I can get you?"

"No, thank you, you've been very helpful."

Tanya beamed a smile and quickly got missing. Connor picked up the note and read it over.

_Elena Gilbert mostly although not as much lately. Alaric Saltzman who's the history teacher drinks with Damon…the older brother a lot. Damon's brother Stefan is pretty tight with Caroline Forbes and the bus boy Matt. Sometimes they talk to Elena's little brother Jeremy. He's the one playing pool. And Bonnie Bennett, but she's not here tonight._

Connor looked up from the note and spotted a dark-haired boy probably no older than sixteen, seventeen at the most steadying the pool stick to take his next shot.

Stuffing the information in his pocket, Connor finally allowed himself to dig into his meal. His interrogations would begin in the morning.

"**Do you mind if **I join you?"

Jeremy looked up from the billiards table and saw that the new guy, the dude all the girls couldn't stop gushing about was standing on the far side of the table appearing pensive. Jeremy knew what it was like being the outsider and playing pool by yourself was never any fun.

"Yeah, sure why not. Grab a stick."

Nero aka Aleksander Stavros shrugged off his leather jacket and hung it over the back of a nearby chair. He was happy to be out of the house. Studying art from the Baroque period didn't interest him the first time he learned it in Greece and having to repeat the subject was even more torturous. He had made a bargain with himself to be more sociable and soon enough he might get some answers about the extermination of his family and why his life had been spared. He had heard nothing from Misha Christova since their meeting in the woods in Pennsylvania, and even attending Bonnie's birthday party and talking with her hadn't gotten him any closer to finding answers.

Being in this strange world had made him a far better listener and observer. Nero learned very quickly that people loved to gossip and share personal information even if you never asked for it to begin with. But he used those rare chances someone would stop him for conversation to gather what information he could about those in Bonnie Bennett's inner circle.

He knew that Jeremy Gilbert was her ex and though Jeremy appeared to still carry a torch for the girl, she had apparently moved on. Nero had seen her several times with the eldest Salvatore—Damon, and if they weren't a couple they were well on their way to being one.

When Nero had been at the Salvatore boardinghouse he could admit to feeling that the air there was strange. It was cold. The type you'd associate with a dead body. He hadn't felt anything like that anywhere else in town and he wondered what could it mean.

Perhaps if he made nice with Jeremy Gilbert he might be willing to fill in some blanks.

Nero outstretched his hand. "We've never been properly introduced. I'm Aleksander. Aleksander Stavros."

"Yeah, I know who you are. Jeremy Gilbert."

The two shook hands, the band to their rings clashed. Nero twisted Jeremy's hand a little to get a better look at it and his eyes ballooned.

Jeremy stared at Nero questioningly. "What?"

Nero ended the handshake and then revealed his family signet ring to Jeremy whose eyes widened in tandem.

"What the hell?" Jeremy exclaimed and then lowered his voice. "You have one, too?"

Nero's dark eyebrows mashed together in confusion. "What do you mean I have one too? This is my family ring. My father gave this to me. It had been passed down to him by his father. How do you have my family ring?"

"I'm sorry but…there must be some mistake. This ring is my family heirloom and unless we're some kind of kin…then this mean you know."

Nero was doubly confused now and getting agitated. "Know what?"

Jeremy leaned closer and whispered, "This ring protects against the supernatural."

Nero stared at Jeremy flabbergasted and figured that yep he was definitely crazy; the rumors about him were true. "I don't believe in the supernatural."

Jeremy snorted and tossed a semi-sympathetic look Nero's way. He began to dig the balls out of the corner pockets of the pool table. "You stick around here long enough and you won't have a choice. Welcome to Mystic Falls where the impossible _is _possible."

Chapter end.

**A/N: Connor is in town, Nero is slowly starting to get the 411 about Mystic Falls, and Bamon they just make my heart sing. Thank you everyone for tuning in. Until next time. Love you!**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Seems like I'm always starting off with an apology when it comes to this story. Thank you everyone who reviewed or read last chapter, and for waiting patiently for an update. Here's the latest installment. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW.

**"Sexy danger guy** staring at you at nine o'clock, Bon."

Bonnie halted in putting her books away in her locker and turned her attention in the direction Audrina Wales told her to. Of course when she did so no one was standing there. A knowing grin bloomed on Bonnie's face as she went back to her task of exchanging her books and closing her locker.

"What guy?" Bonnie asked coyly.

Audrina took another look down the hallway, saw no one standing there and frowned. "He was there a second ago. I could have sworn a _really _hot guy was standing there gawking at you like a diabetic staring at a piece of cake."

Bonnie chuckled. "Don't talk about diabetics like that, Audrina," Bonnie admonished. The two girls began to head in the opposite direction.

"Have you thought about who you're going to ask to the Honoria Fell dance next weekend?"

Bonnie hadn't given that dance a single thought. It was a dance in which girls asked guys. Her obvious choice was Damon, but Bonnie was kind of over the whole high school dance thing. She'd much prefer to go to a club or stay in.

She shook her head at Audrina's question then asked one of her own. "Do you have any prospects?"

The raven-haired girl shook her head and then blushed profusely. "Well actually there is someone I want to ask, but…it's hopeless."

"Who?" Bonnie asked beginning to feel giddy all over again. This was the part of high school she missed. The normal part where she and her girlfriends' would conspire to get guys, and harbored raging crushes that didn't have a snowballs chance in hell of ever coming to fruition.

"You have to promise not to say anything, and I do mean _anything_, Bonnie or I will light your gorgeous hair on fire."

Bonnie nodded her head in compliance to the threat. Audrina covertly checked both ends of the hallway before whispering her answer in Bonnie's ear.

"Stefan Salvatore?" Bonnie blurted out loud and then slapped her hand over her mouth. Audrina shot daggers at Bonnie.

"See, I knew I couldn't tell you!"

"Audrina, wait…you just caught me by surprise."

Audrina sighed. "Look I know I'm no Elena Gilbert…"

Bonnie rolled her eyes heavenward. When would everyone stop comparing themselves to Elena? Elena was great but she was flawed just like everyone else. She already had to go through this with Caroline.

Bonnie took her friend by the shoulders. "Yes, you're not Elena Gilbert, only Elena is Elena Gilbert. You are Audrina Wales. The girl who has so much swag that Kanye West has to take notes. And she's also one of the craziest and sweetest people I know."

Audrina brightened considerably after all of the praise. "I am fly," she boasted.

"Yep. However…" And Audrina immediately began to pout. "I know for a fact that Stefan is seeing someone."

"Just my luck," Audrina lamented. "But it was a nice thought."

"Well, a lot can happen in a week."

"Is this the part where you mimic Jesse Jackson's voice and tell me to keep hope alive?"

Bonnie chuckled. "You know me so well."

They reached Audrina's class first. The two girls waved at one another and then Bonnie remembered she forget to pick up her test from Alaric and decided to swing by before heading to her Independent Study class.

When she reached Rick's classroom, the teacher was nowhere in sight but there was a man standing by the windows peering out. Bonnie stumbled to a stop and wondered if she should wait for Rick just in the off chance he had to dash down the hall, or look for her test in the pile that was stacked on the edge of his desk.

She didn't have time to put either plan into action for the man turned around. He was handsome, Bonnie would give him that, and there was a certain _edge _to him that was missing in a lot of guys she had encountered. He wasn't smiling, and his dark brown eyes assessed her carefully as if measuring her or looking for something in particular.

Bonnie cleared her throat. "Um…hi do you know where Al—I mean where Mr. Saltzman is?"

The bald-headed black man shook his head and approached Bonnie but stopped a foot away from her.

"I've been waiting for him myself. I spoke with the school secretary and she told me he has this period free. Must be in the break room or something," the man extended his hand. "Connor Jordan."

Bonnie kept her eyes focused on Connor Jordan and missed the fact he was wearing workout gloves. She didn't notice it until the leather scraped across her skin. When she flashed her eyes back up to his face, his eyes met hers and he looked—relieved? Disappointed? Appeased? Bonnie wasn't sure.

"Bonnie…Bennett," she told him carefully.

"Do you need me to relay a message to Mr. Saltzman?"

Bonnie shook her head. "I'll come back later. I have class so I should go."

Quickly walking out of the room, Bonnie turned the corner and ran into a solid chest. Gasping and grabbing her chest in a poor effort to keep her heart from breaking out of her ribcage, Bonnie peered up at the person she ran into.

Smoldering oceanic eyes ignited her skin. "Going somewhere?" the intruder asked while cocking his head to the side and licking his bottom lip.

"Yes, to class," Bonnie said after finding her voice.

"I have a better idea. Come with me instead."

Bonnie folded her arms over her chest. "And why should I leave school property with a stranger?"

"Because," a hand wrapped around her hip, "you'll enjoy it if you do."

Feeling her toes curl in her shoes, Bonnie checked both ends of the hallway. She really should get her butt to class considering all the school she already missed. However, staring into those cerulean eyes, Bonnie's mind was already made up.

**So this is what guys **in small towns did for entertainment. They went out to the woods—to the cemetery to be more specific—lit up joints, cracked open a six-pack, and desecrated graves. Nero shook his head inwardly as he braced his weight up against a tree and watched as several of his classmates danced around a fire in broad daylight. He had agreed to meet with Jeremy Gilbert, but now he was second guessing that decision. Sighing audibly, Nero tipped the long-neck bottle up to his lips and swallowed thirstily.

As he did so, Nero tried to block out the volume of inner voices streaming into his head. This telepathy thing was for the birds, and he wanted no part of being different, but if it was his curse until he found some effective way to get rid of it or manage it, he was stuck.

"Hey man," Jeremy approached Nero from the south and held out a hand for a handshake.

Nero accommodated Jeremy and eyed him guardedly. "Hey," he mumbled in return. "I didn't think you would show."

"Sorry, I got tied up with my sister. When she starts to nag there's no stopping her," Jeremy turned his attention to the activity taking place not far from them. He motioned with his head for Nero to follow him.

Tossing his bottle on the ground, Nero stuffed his hands in his pockets and fell into step with Jeremy. The two of them were deep in the woods by the time Jeremy stopped and dropped his knapsack on the ground.

"You said that you had something's to tell me," Nero jumped to the heart of the matter. He was done dancing around the issue.

Jeremy fell down to his haunches and pulled out his sketchbook. He handed it over to Nero who took it and began flipping through the pages. After seeing a couple of sketches of fanged men and werewolves, Nero pressed his lips together in annoyance.

"So you can draw. What does that have to do with anything? This doesn't explain why you and I have the same ring, and we've already established we share no relation or kin with one another."

"I know this is going to sound crazy and I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but you need to know. You haven't lived here long enough to hear about people dying from animal attacks, but it's just a cover. A cover up of the truth that this town is home to vampires, werewolves, and now hybrids. And that ring you're wearing is just one defense against them. You won't die at the hands of an immortal so long as you wear that ring. It's been spelled by a witch to protect you."

Nero stared down at Jeremy before bursting out into incredulous laughter. "I'm done here," he dropped the sketchbook on the ground and began to head back in the direction of his parked car.

Jeremy jogged up to Nero and caught him by the arm and swung him back around. "I'm not lying," he said vehemently. "And I brought proof because I know you wouldn't believe me."

"And why should I believe you?" Nero argued. "Why should I believe a convoluted story about vampires and whatever the hell else? I thought you would be up front and honest with me, not try to make a fool out of me."

"I'm not making a fool out of you and why in hell would I make this shit up? To look cool? You think it's cool to have something rip into your neck and drink your blood like you're a Pepsi? You think it's cool to have your neck snapped because you breathed the wrong way while in the presence of a vampire who decided to have a temper tantrum?"

Nero stared at Jeremy trying to gage the sincerity of his words. Though he didn't want to, Nero decided to take a peek inside Jeremy's head. Sometimes he saw images but that wasn't always a sure thing. Concentrating, he found that Jeremy was very easy to read and he saw firsthand what he had experienced. Fanged teeth—bared—and sinking into his flesh, the white-hot pain of having his blood taken against his will. Being placed into a bruising choke hold by a man with fierce-blue eyes. Seeing a young girl's skin turn gray and scaly with a piece of wood protruding from her chest.

He gulped but that couldn't exactly stop the bile from rushing up his throat—burning it—and it certainly didn't prevent the world from going on a tailspin. Nero bent over a little and braced his hands on his knees to balance himself. Jeremy frowned in concern as he looked at him.

"Hey, man are you alright?" Gilbert asked.

"Just…" Nero couldn't finish his thought. Taking a few deep breaths he tried to expel those visions from his mind, but it wasn't working. Getting to sleep tonight would be a miracle. And just as soon as the fear came, anger overtook him. Why the hell would Misha tell him to come _here_? Maybe his job had been to kill him all along, but again, could Nero really trust what he saw in Jeremy's head?

"Jesus," Nero whispered, stumbled a little, and stood to his full height. This couldn't be real. And if it was, what did it have to do with him? How did he fit into all of this? By the time he pulled himself from his musings Nero caught Jeremy stuffing his cell phone back into his pocket.

"She'll be here," Jeremy announced.

"She who?" Nero questioned and then in the next second a strong wind beat against his back and he was staring into the eyes of Caroline Forbes.

Jolted because she seemingly appeared out of nowhere, Nero swallowed and then shifted his eyes between Jeremy and Caroline unsure of what they meant to do.

Caroline looked at Jeremy with uncertainty. "Are you _sure _he can be trusted? I shouldn't have agreed to this in the first place."

"Take a look at his ring," Jeremy encouraged.

Caroline flashed a smile at Nero before picking up his hand and inspecting his ring. She wore no discernible expression on her face before releasing her hold on him.

"All right," Caroline muttered and then showed Nero her happy face.

"_WHAT THE HELL?!"_

Spooked birds flew from the comfort of the trees and took solace in the air. The revelers by the gravestones paused in their partying only to start back up again. Nero had somehow lost his footing and was scrambling backwards on the ground yelling for Caroline to stay away from him.

Miffed, Caroline placed her hands on her hips. "I am deeply offended. I know this isn't my cutest expression but I don't look _that _ratchet," she complained and tapped her foot against the ground.

"Its okay, Aleskander," Jeremy tried to placate the guy. "She's not going to hurt you."

Nero wasn't paying Jeremy or his words any bit of attention. His eyes were too busy staring at Caroline and the horrific red veins wiggling under her blood-shot eyes and the two pointy teeth sticking out past her lips. He must have stepped on a mushroom that released a hallucinogen into the air because how else could he explain what he was seeing? If she truly were a vampire shouldn't she be bursting into flames or melting because she was standing in the sun? Nero might have been a little rusty when it came to mythology but he was sure that sunlight equaled a painful death for the undead.

Caroline sunk to her haunches. "If I wanted to make a meal out of you, Aleskander I would have done so by now. I'm one of the good ones and there are few of us out there—I think, not really sure. Like Jeremy said, I won't hurt you."

Nero shook his head. "How is this possible?"

"I know this is a lot to take in so we got a lot of ground to cover," Jeremy said.

Nero didn't know about that, but he did know one thing, by nightfall or maybe even before then he would be out of this sick and twisted town.

**Stefan licked barbeque** sauce off his fingers all the while his eyes were glued to the TV in front of him. Out of his peripheral vision he saw Bonnie take a sip of her coke as she too stuffed her mouth.

"Still mad at me?" she asked.

He bobbed his head and tossed the clean chicken bone on his plate. "You're almost forgiven. My brother is turning out to be a bad influence on you and you haven't even been together for a full week yet," Stefan shook his head ruefully.

He and Bonnie were seated side-by-side in a booth at The Grill. Between their eating their eyes were glued to the tennis match that was being broadcast on ESPN.

Bonnie snorted at Stefan's comment. She had ditched him fifth period for an impromptu make out session with Damon, leaving Stefan to the doldrums of Spanish III with the world's worst Spanish speaking teacher—the result of budget cuts.

"I still don't see how I'm the one who got suckered into paying for our meal. Stefan you can sleep your way through Spanish and still pass with an A. And that's only because you have an unfair advantage of being around when it was invented."

The younger Salvatore snickered and washed down the mouthful of chicken he just ate with a large gulp of carbonated soda. He belched loudly to which Bonnie grimaced and jabbed him with the pointy end of her elbow.

"Um ow," he said.

"That didn't hurt."

"You have sharp elbows. And ashy ones too. I think you cut me."

Bonnie tossed him an irritated look.

Stefan sat back in the booth and stretched his left arm along the back. "So what were you doing that was far more important than attending class?"

"I was doing research," the young witch lied easily.

"Yes, deciphering what mouthwash my brother uses is important research," Stefan winked conspiratorially.

Bonnie stared at him. "I don't know why you're pretending to be upset. Don't you have your own girl you should be keeping tabs on? Oh, and not to mention but when am I going to meet this clandestine Keiko? She does exist, right?"

"You'll meet her once she's good and ready to meet everyone. But like I told you in DC, we're taking things slow and everything is still in what you crazy kids call the honeymoon stage. We're both perfect in each others eyes. We have no faults and even if we do it only makes us that more appealing," Stefan finished his diatribe with a huge slightly condescending smile.

"So you say."

"And what about you and my brother? Have you told anyone that there is now a Damon and Bonnie?"

Bonnie looked at Stefan and really hated him for his super hearing. Private conversations that took place amidst the walls of the boardinghouse were abolished when someone could hear atoms splitting. There were many facets of her budding relationship Bonnie wanted to keep to herself, but Stefan who never, until now, wanted to be intrusive. It made Bonnie wonder why he was so interested in hearing the salacious details of her dealings with his brother.

"No, I haven't. I guess you can say we're taking a page from your book and we're taking things slow, and keeping things quiet."

"You don't seem to be in a transitional period," he pointed out.

Bonnie arched an elegant eyebrow in the air. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you aren't freaking out if you're making the right choice in being with Damon. It's like…you've made the decision a long time ago and were just waiting for things to come to pass. Am I right or am I wrong?"

She didn't want to answer right away because if she did answer Stefan's question it would only lead to more questions. Not saying she had an aversion to talking about her personal life, but there were some things Bonnie would not discuss. Besides it was no one's business, not even Stefan's.

"You haven't totally lost your ability to be astute, Stefan," was all Bonnie would commit to saying.

He grinned. "You thought I was just being a jackass for the hell of it and not on actual principle?"

Bonnie cocked a shoulder.

Stefan leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. His leaned closer to Bonnie. "Why do you like him?"

"Why don't you like him?" she countered.

"He's a dick!"

"On a good day so are you."

Stefan really couldn't argue with that. "You could be with any guy you want, Bonnie. Any _living_ guy."

"I could say the same for Keiko…unless she's a vampire."

Stefan shook his head. "She's all human, a perfect 98.6 degrees."

Bonnie chuckled and cut it off prematurely. She sat back against the padded booth to put some space between herself and Stefan. His nearness was beginning to cloud something's.

"Look, I have my reasons for wanting to be with Damon, but they're my reasons. And I shouldn't have to explain them or justify them to anyone. Things are different now. I don't look at him as that homicidal derelict who first sauntered into town. Is he perfect? Far from it. Does he make me happy? Absolutely."

At the end of her spiel Stefan could do nothing but stare at Bonnie. She wasn't the same girl she was before her coma, if she could come out of her stasis rest with a new perspective about Damon Salvatore. This all made Stefan want to scratch his head and question if there had been a planet realignment while he wasn't looking. The concept of his brother making someone happy was like mixing water and vinegar together; they just did not mesh.

"I don't mean to poke holes in your…relationship with my brother…"

"Yes, you do," Bonnie contradicted.

"Okay so maybe I do. His track record speaks for itself. I just want you to be sure you're making the right decision."

"I am, Stefan. Believe me I've given this a lot of thought and though it might not like seem like it, I have."

Stefan assessed Bonnie for a moment. "Do I need to ask what your intentions are? Are you looking to steal his virtue? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, hun, but he is a hoe."

Bonnie slapped Stefan on the arm. "He's not. Or hasn't been for a while from my understanding. He has standards."

"And they've vastly improved," Stefan raked his eyes over Bonnie and she felt her cheeks warm.

"Cut that out," she admonished.

He chortled and took another sip of his drink. "If you're dating him essentially you're dating me, too."

"Thanks so much for the reminder."

"Know this, Bon, I only want the best for you, and if that person is Damon…after I stop laughing I'm all for it."

"You are such a jerk."

He nodded his head in agreement. "And a thirsty one. I'm going to get a refill." He collected her glass as well. "Do you want another?"

"Sure."

"I'll be right back."

Bonnie watched Stefan as he headed to the bar. She took that as her opportunity to utilize the ladies room. And just as she slid out of the booth, a heavy hand clamped down on her wrist. Surprised and a little outraged someone would grab her, Bonnie was fully prepared to tell the person off, but the tongue lashing never came.

"Aleksander?" Bonnie stared into the slightly enraged eyes of her classmate. "What are you doing?"

"I need to talk to you," Nero spoke lowly but heatedly. Not waiting to hear Bonnie acquiesce to his request, he began to pull her to the corridor which led to the bathrooms.

Futilely Bonnie looked over her shoulder trying to spot Stefan but she only managed to catch a glimpse of him talking to Matt.

Once they reached their destination, Bonnie found her back up against the wall. She switched her weight on her feet and waited for Nero to open up the dialogue.

Placing his right arm on the wall behind her head, Nero bent his knees so he could be at eye-level with Bonnie. "Do you know I just spent the last hour and a half in the woods with your crazed ex-boyfriend and…" he scoffed, "undead best friend Caroline Forbes?"

Bonnie opened her mouth to speak but unfortunately her vocal cords decided to take five. _Those two…they wouldn't! _Inwardly Bonnie was livid.

"Is it true?" Nero spat, his accent getting thicker. "Is this town riddled with things that shouldn't exist?" he held up the hand with his ring. Bonnie eyed it immediately recognizing it. "Has this ring been spelled by a witch to protect me from a supernatural attack? I came here because my family was murdered, slaughtered, and a man named Misha told me to look for a woman named Bonnie Bennett, and that she would be able to give me answers. What do you know of this? Better yet….what _are _you?"

Bonnie had no idea which one of Nero's questions or more to the matter accusations to address first. But she would definitely be kicking Jeremy and Caroline's ass for exposing secrets to someone they had no idea could be trusted or not.

"I…I'm sorry about your family, but like I told you, Aleskander I don't know a man named Misha, and as far as everything else…we shouldn't talk about that _here,_" Bonnie stressed.

Nero took a step away from Bonnie, one thing sticking out. "You're not denying it. What I saw…what I heard…it's all true."

"Aleksander," Bonnie tried soothingly recognizing when someone was about to lose their shit and cause a scene.

"Oh for Christ sake my name isn't Aleksander!" he erupted.

Bonnie looked at him with a puckered brow. "Your name isn't Aleskander? So what the hell is it?"

"That's not important right now! You don't look surprised by anything I've just shared with you which means that Jeremy and Caroline were telling me the truth. I'm waiting for you do the same."

"And like I told you this isn't the place to get into all of that."

"Then where and when because I swear…"

"You swear what?"

Both teenagers swiveled their attention to the person blocking the entryway. Nero's eyes crashed into the face of the man he saw in Jeremy's memory. A huge suffocating sense of foreboding slammed into Nero making his stomach plummet to his toes. For one terrifying moment he wondered if Bonnie would give some type of signal to attack and he'd be crumpled on the floor with his head turned at impossible angle.

Damon took a single step closer, his eyes never leaving Nero, but zeroing on how close the boy was standing to his girl. What even drew his attention to this alcove in the first place was the sound of a raised voice, and a rapidly beating heart. At first Damon dismissed it as some kind of lover's spat, but the second he heard Bonnie's voice his course shifted. No one raised their voice or made any threatening gestures towards his girlfriend, and lived. No one!

"I asked you a question," Damon reiterated as the silence continued.

Bonnie tried to slither away but Nero caught her by the arm. Big mistake.

The vampire's eyes dropped to the possessive hold the asshole had on his girlfriend. Cricking his neck, Damon was really going to enjoy refurbishing the walls with Nero's entrails if he didn't fucking let Bonnie go! A toxic blend of adrenaline and testosterone surged through Damon making him feel like a pit bull gnawing through a chain leash.

Reading the intent on Damon's face, Bonnie attempted to place herself between her irate boyfriend and her bewildered classmate.

Everything in Nero was telling him to let Bonnie go because he possibly just stepped into something that would have damning consequences otherwise. Yet surprisingly there was an equally stronger part of Nero urging him to protect Bonnie no matter the costs.

Bonnie tugged her arm away from Nero with little struggle. She approached Damon and grabbed his arm hoping it would be enough to simmer him down. Damon barely glanced in her direction before locking visual horns with Nero once more. Before Bonnie knew it, Stefan had joined the party looking equally serious and spoiling for a fight.

Seeing Stefan appear out of nowhere caused Nero to straighten his spine. He was outnumbered but some foolish part of him thought he could take both brothers on. However, Bonnie was in the way and he couldn't let anything happen to her. It caught Nero a little off guard, his sudden overwhelming need to protect his classmate. Who was she to him anyways?

'"I think you better go and if I see you talking to my girlfriend again…"

"You're going to do what?" Nero challenged.

"All right, stop," Bonnie interceded. "Damon lets go."

"Bonnie…" Nero implored.

Bonnie ignored him as she pushed Damon backwards. The two of them walked back to the table she had been seated at where she quickly gathered her things. Damon kept his eyes on the other patrons of the restaurant and the minute Bonnie had her stuff they made their way to the exit.

**Old habits died hard**, Damon thought as he fought against his natural instinct to go back and pummel that kid. Holding Bonnie's hand as they crossed the parking lot to his car, Damon's eyes covertly looked around. He wasn't equipped with a spidy sense but something was triggering his flight or fight mechanism. He needed to get Bonnie and himself to safety and it had nothing to do with that little punk in the restaurant, but something that was lurking in the shadows.

Bonnie noticed that Damon was tense and then suddenly he jerked to a stop. "Damon?"

The vampire in question groaned and then jerked again and then a final time before dropping to the ground taking Bonnie with him. Her knees took most of the impact but Bonnie ignored the pain ricocheting through her body as she stared in shock at Damon who was slumped over holding his stomach.

"Shit," Damon cursed and slapped a hand on the asphalt.

"What is it?" Bonnie asked as she rolled Damon on his back.

His shirt was drenched in blood, his hands covered. Bonnie lifted up the material and saw two small holes in his stomach and a third under his clavicle.

"Bonnie… get…get out of here," Damon advised between gasping breaths while attempting to rise from the pavement.

"No! Lie still," she ordered. "Stefan!" Bonnie yelled.

Damon had been shot too many times to his liking but this was different. He easily identified that the bullets were indeed made out of wood, but that didn't account for the searing pain that was digging through his intestines and spreading like wild fire. Damon ground his molars on top of one another in a futile attempt to staunch the pain, but it was relentless.

Within seconds his brother was beside Bonnie quickly assessing the situation. Stefan didn't waste time asking what happened because the evidence was right in front of him.

He turned to Bonnie. "Were you hit?"

Hands shaking, Bonnie quickly shook her head. "We need to get him home."

Quickly scanning the parking lot and listening with his vampire hearing, Stefan heard the sound of heavy military issued boots running west down the street. He listened longer until the engine of an early model truck started. Stefan locked the sound of that engine into memory.

Instinct was telling him to follow, to hunt, and track, but he had to get his brother and Bonnie to safety first. Whoever shot Damon did so at a distance and used a silencer because the sound of gunshots ringing through the air had been notably absent.

They were dealing with a trained professional and that made Stefan suck his teeth. Bending down, he hoisted Damon none-too-gently to his feet and carried his brother across the parking lot and stuffed him in the backseat of the Camaro. The injured vampire knew this was the wrong time to be worried about something like this, but he would have to get his leather seats reupholstered because blood was one obstinate bitch to get out.

Bonnie climbed into the back with Damon, resting his head on her lap, brushing his raven hair off his forehead with blood stained fingers.

"I'm going to try to get the bullets out," Bonnie said. She needed to occupy herself or otherwise she'd act like those annoying and hysterical females who did more crying and shouting rather than helping when a crisis hit. She was terrified because this was her first taste of violence since waking from her coma. It was a definite shock to her system since the attack came out of left field. In the past Bonnie would have scowled at Damon and demand to know who he pissed off. She might revert to old habits only because she was so scared.

Damon coughed which only served to make the bullets sink deeper into his flesh. He wedged his fingers into one hole, grimacing the whole while, but he couldn't reach the bullet.

"Stop!" Bonnie smacked his hand away. "I said I'd do it."

"This shit hurts, Bonnie stings like a bitch."

Stefan flicked his eyes to the rearview mirror. "They're wooden bullets?"

"Yeah," Damon wheezed. "But…"

He couldn't finish his thought because Stefan raced over a pair of railroad tracks which jostled all occupants in the car. Damon almost kicked the window out as a way to alleviate his pain.

"The fuq, Stefan!" Damon roared.

"Sorry."

"We're almost there," Bonnie said and placed her hands above Damon's stomach. Closing her eyes she began the incantation.

Damon's back arched off the seat as one of the bullets tunneled its way backwards through muscle and skin until finally it was dislodged. Now he could certainly empathize with women during childbirth. That felt like the mother load of all contractions.

A stream of curse words filtered Stefan and Bonnie's ears. Ignoring him, Bonnie picked up the bullet and noticed it had the same markings as the bullet Kol showed her. It was confirmed, they were dealing with a hunter and not a run-of-the-mill one either.

"Let me see," Damon reached for the bullet and plucked it out of Bonnie's hand only it burned him and he quickly dropped it. "It's soaked with vervain."

Hearing that did not make Stefan a happy camper. "So we have a hunter on the loose that not only uses wooden bullets but has the foresight to soak them in a deadly poison. Ingenious! Hey you haven't by any chance pissed Alaric off today have you, Damon?" Stefan asked flippantly.

Damon couldn't even glare at his younger brother. "I haven't given Ric a reason to kill me. At least not this week. This was someone else, obviously."

"Whoever he was," Bonnie inserted, "he was targeting you and knows what you are." For a second Bonnie thought of earlier today and that man waiting in Alaric's classroom. What had he said his name was again? What was his business here?

Both brothers fell grave at Bonnie's revelation. Now several questions remained but the most important being: Who was after him?

Stefan finally pulled up into the brick driveway of the boardinghouse and unloaded his brother.

Damon groaned the minute his back hit the mattress of his bed. Bonnie kicked off her shoes and joined him and expeditiously but cautiously removed the other two bullets.

The both of them stared at his bloodied stomach and shoulder waiting for the holes to seal and close, but they were taking their sweet time doing so.

Wordlessly, Bonnie held out her wrist to Damon's mouth. Stefan had reentered the room after calling Rick. He was on his way over. He watched as Damon gently took Bonnie's wrist, and sank his fangs into it.

Bonnie exhaled aloud and kept her gaze locked on Damon although he was enraptured with feeding. Red veins undulated beneath his dark lashes while those same veins bottlenecked in the whites of his eyes until they were devil red. What used to haunt her dreams and give her nightmares was something she was getting accustomed to.

Stefan kept his distance although it was nearly impossible. The scent alone of Bonnie's blood accompanied by the tantalizing beat of her heart, her perfumed skin, and the fact he hadn't had his blood rations today made hunger flare deep in his belly and his mouth to salivate.

Damon swiped his tongue over Bonnie's wrist to seal off the puncture wounds in her skin. He shifted his eyes to Stefan and noticed that he was standing in a slight crouch but was holding himself rigid—his eyes plastered on Bonnie.

"Stefan," Damon spoke to his brother after retracting his fangs. He tried again because his brother was fixated on one thing. "Stefan!"

Coming out of his stupor, Stefan shook his head. "Sorry," he left the room, closing the door behind him.

It was silent for a while as Bonnie rubbed the wrist Damon had bitten into. She was sure she just narrowly escaped being turned into a chew toy.

"Something just occurred to me," Bonnie said.

"What?"

"If we're dealing with a professional then he should have been able to hit you directly in the heart. But he didn't unless he was testing you."

Damon felt the need to stroke his chin, but didn't. What Bonnie said was logical.

"Well, you can't say I didn't promise you excitement," Damon smirked and licked remnants of her blood off his mouth.

Bonnie pursed her lips. "That's not exactly the type of excitement I had in mind. It seems like the drama is starting once again."

"Hmm," Damon murmured non-committally and stared at the three wood bullets on his bed. Something about this should have made him want to pack his and Bonnie's bags, not saying the feeling wasn't there because Damon knew without a doubt things were going to get messy and bloody and there would be casualties. Running, however, was not in his vocabulary.

Nevertheless there was something he wanted to know. "What did that kid from your class want? Why was he all in your face?"

"He knows," Bonnie replied grimly. "Jeremy and Caroline took it upon themselves to fill him in on the town and I'm guessing Caroline did a little demonstration to prove she was telling the truth about the existence of vampires. I don't know what would possess them to tell a stranger…but he has a ring…like Jeremy's and Alaric's."

Cursing, Damon sat up, took his shirt off and tossed it on the floor. Bonnie grew a little distracted by his torso.

Damon's lips twitched. "Eyes up here, honey. We're having a serious discussion."

"And we can talk while you shower."

Climbing off the bed, Damon unzipped his pants, toed off his boots, and the next thing Bonnie knew he was walking buff butterball naked into his bathroom.

"I rather soak in the tub and I rather you join me," Damon looked over his shoulder as he filled the bathtub.

"Umm," Bonnie followed without realizing her legs had carried her to the bathroom. "I have homework and you were almost assassinated tonight."

"All the more reason for you to strip and join me. You could be in shock right now and not realize it. You haven't seen any action in five months," Damon stood brazenly naked before her. "And I'm not talking about the carnal kind either."

Though being turned on was the last thing Bonnie should have been considering it looked like a paint bomb exploded in the middle of Damon's chest and the splatter of blood had reached his thighs, there was something primitive about him that called to her baser self.

Her deft fingers flicked open the buttons of her cardigan and soon it was a pool of fabric around her feet along with her jeans, shirt, bra, and panties.

Damon stepped into the tub and, taking Bonnie by the hand, helped her inside.

She sat facing him and grabbed his soap gel and a sponge, poured a liberal amount on it and began to wash the blood off his torso in gentle circles.

Damon tilted his head back and began to formulate his next course of action. "Whoever was behind tonight is as good as dead as well as Vampire Barbie and that emo loser."

"Damon, you're not killing anybody."

The vampire in question scoffed, and lifted his head to stare at Bonnie. His eyes darkened to lapis the second the sponge began to head south. "Shows what you know. Someone tries to take _me _out that makes them fair game. But now it seems I have to actually watch my back. Things have been too calm and quiet as of late. Can't be caught sleeping like I was tonight."

Again Bonnie was bombarded with memories from earlier today and that guy waiting in Alaric's room. As much as Bonnie wanted to tell Damon someone new was in town she didn't want to, in a sense, sic her boyfriend on someone who probably had nothing to do with tonight's attack. Plus, it was common knowledge that Damon was a kill first ask questions later type of fellow.

"I think its time you put your friends on a leash, Bonnie. I don't know why little Gilbert and Blondie would think it would _ever_ be okay to open up their big mouths about this town, and for Caroline to show what she is. I always knew she was dumb but not_ this_ fucking dumb."

That little comment earned him a sharp slap to his chest.

"What?"

"I get that you don't like Caroline but you don't always have to insult her intelligence. She's my friend, Damon, and yeah she doesn't always think things through sometimes, but you're in no position to judge. I'll deal with her _and _Jeremy because you're only liable to make things worse."

Damon had plenty of arguments lined up to the contrary, but instead he shut his mouth. All right so he'd lay off on _vocalizing _his insults…for now. There were many things Damon was prepared to face but a pissed off— albeit naked—witch wasn't one of them. And his ass was currently sitting in a tub full of water.

"Fine," he conceded. "I'll let you deal with those two. I hate to say this but I might have to go to Elijah about this. Out of the Originals he's the least shady although I wouldn't put it past him to know who tried to kill me. But I just want to know who blabbed."

The list included everyone who was in on the secret. The mayor, the sheriff, her friends, Alaric, any number of Damon or Stefan's enemies.

Bonnie shook her head. "I don't know, Damon. To be honest…it could have been anyone. Even someone you thought had your back."

If that were the case Damon would definitely have to keep a closer eye on his supposed allies.

Tracing her cheek with his thumb, Damon pulled Bonnie forward until she was straddling him. "I know you would never betray me."

"How can you be so sure?" Bonnie wrapped her soaked arms around his shoulders. "I could be pretending to like you to set you up for a fall."

"There is that, but there's one thing you can't fake."

"And what's that?"

"The way your heart and body, especially your pussy responds to me."

Bonnie flushed but then decided to knock Damon a little off his high horse. "Stefan! Get in here and prove to Damon that he isn't the only…"

Her words were cut off by the invasion of a cool tongue in her mouth, and lips hungrily devouring hers.

**Thinking of the last **decree he ordered before leaving her was all she had thought about for the last seventy years. She knew he would be happy to see her if only he'd see her again. She had maintained her hope that he might come back, return to the life they had here in New Orleans, but apparently it wasn't going to come to pass. She'd have to make him.

Folding the letter she just received, she knew it was time to put her plan into motion. She couldn't sit by and be idle while he made a life without her. She had given him more than enough space to get antiquated with the world. Now she would have to remind him of the promises he made to her, of the responsibility he bared.

Walking over to the window she began to count the bricks of the apartment complex across from hers. It was a ritual of sorts, the only thing that made her feel remotely close to him.

"Soon…Damon…we'll see each other soon."

Chapter end.

**A/N: I know there wasn't much Bamon this chapter but I needed to speed along my B and C plots. There will be Bamony goodness next update, promise. Stay tuned. Thank you so much for reading! Reviews are love. Until next time, love you guys. **


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Hiya. My apologizes for having you guys wait a month for this. Trying to weave together my new plot while still infusing parts from the original plot of this story is getting a little trickier because I want everything to flow right. I also wanted to dig back into the roots of this story and why I wrote it in the first place…hot Bamon moments, but as the story develops it's getting difficult to include that element in every single update where it doesn't seem out of place. But this chapter has lots of it *winks*. Enjoy! Strong sexual content ahead.**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

**The windows were fogged up.** The sounds of panting, heavy breathing, cicadas, crickets, frogs, owls, and other nocturnal creatures filled the air. Tepid hands passed over hot, soft skin eliciting sighs, groans, yelps, and giggles.

Bonnie's back was adhered to the leather seat but that was the least of her worries. With her legs up in the air, panties abandoned on the front seat, and Damon pressed firmly between her thighs, Bonnie arched her neck giving him better access to lay kisses against that swan-like column. His bare chest bore down on hers, the weight comfortable, and made heat flush through her and goose bumps to ripple over her skin.

With Damon feverishly giving her a hickie no amount of makeup would ever cover, Bonnie's idle hands traveled down his back, slid inside his jeans, where she cupped his ass. Damon nipped her with his teeth before pulling away slightly to take possession of her lips—hungrily.

As each day passed he was finding it more and more difficult to abstain from certain acts. And Bonnie certainly didn't make it easy by walking around looking edible and delectable all the fucking time.

He had surprised her with another impromptu romp while she was at school the other day. Dropping bread crumbs in the form of text messages, he had led Bonnie to a utility closet where he braced her up against the door, mauled her mouth with his own, and wished they had gotten to the sex part of their relationship.

Hours after he had ravished her, he tasted nothing but her gooey sweetness on his tongue. And though she had slept in her own bed that night, Damon nearly had to chain himself to his to make sure he didn't coax his way between her thighs.

Damon was not an idiot. He knew Bonnie held certain traditions close to her heart, and if he wanted to take things to the next level, there were certain steps involved first.

Dating was really not his thing and a waste of his time, to be honest. Damon had no qualms bar hopping and going to the occasional club, but he didn't want to do the norm when it came to his version of courting with Bonnie. However, Damon wasn't the sappy type either. He didn't do flowers, candy, little tokens of affection. He could but then Damon felt he would be traveling backwards through time. Nevertheless, he decided to give it a go, you know, just to see what would happen.

He had hidden himself pretty good and watched as Bonnie entered her bedroom. Lying on the bed was a handkerchief with his and her initials sewn into the fabric, and an excerpt from his favorite poem. To his delight Bonnie had smiled like a loon just seconds before calling him an old geezer.

This might have been his first time in a long time that Damon wanted to spoil someone rotten, wanted to give Bonnie the best of everything. But she wasn't materialistic, and from the way she grinned goofily at him after receiving his gift, he learned it was indeed the small things that mattered to her.

But he never had this before. Intimacy. True intimacy. All of his prior conquests Damon had resorted to using mild or, depending on the woman, heavy compulsion. Mindless dolls they all were, compliant playthings that he easily grew tired of, and none of them had been able to sate his wanderlust, his wandering eye, his impulses.

Until Bonnie.

Damon had to constantly remind himself their time to consummate their relationship would come. With each conversation they learned something revealing about each other. With each outing it brought them closer, and usually ended with his tongue in her mouth or on one of her body parts, but hey she didn't complain. She had reduced him to feeling like _he _was in high school and not a hundred and seventy year old vampire who had lived on three different continents, visited more countries and seen more sights than he could possibly remember. He was universal yet also simple, but Bonnie made him feel like he was discovering things for the very first time.

Okay, dude it might be time to lower the height of that pedestal you're trying to put her on, Damon admonished himself.

Getting back into the moment, in his opinion they were wearing far too many clothes. Damon had told Bonnie to wear a dress or a skirt, something that would give him easy access for their little journey. She had side-eyed him when he came strolling into her room after getting liquored up. His eyes were wild, but they had always been wild and it didn't prompt Bonnie to come up with several viable excuses for why it was too late for her to go on a joy ride. There was school to consider—she had already missed half her senior year, and plus she knew only one thing would happen once they were alone.

Yet it was the thrill of breaking the rules that made Bonnie shoot off the bed like a rocket, stuff her feet in her sandals, and take Damon by the hand.

He had driven them out a secluded spot in the woods. Bonnie had heard about the area, the legendary make out spot. All small and even large towns had them. Up until this point, Bonnie had never been. She tried not to think about that when Damon had cut the engine to his car and then motioned for her to get a little closer.

Now they were in the backseat, fogging up the windows, making one another all hot and bothered.

Damon's hand distracted her from her thoughts. Using only his fingertips he trailed them from the curve of her shoulder, over the hill of her breast, over her ribs, down to her hip, past her thigh before stopping at her knee where it made its trek back north. Now his fingers were operating in reverse, but this time gliding up the inside of her thigh. Bonnie was so responsive to him. Sometimes Damon didn't even have to touch her. He could make her squirm, blush, or wet just with a single look.

Her heady perfume blanketed the air in the car and he sucked up as much of her aroma as he could possibly get. Damon was convinced there was nothing sweeter on this planet next to the nectarine that spilled out of Bonnie's pussy whenever he got near it. His hands loved her, his tongue couldn't get enough of her, and his dick, well it definitely wanted to be more acquainted.

He pulled away from her lips, a line of spit from his bottom lip attached to hers. He smirked down at Bonnie as his fingers trailed closer to her epicenter. The heat radiating from her was intoxicating and Damon had to shift his weight because he was putting too much pressure on his erect phallus. It was slightly painful, a tolerable kind of pain but painful nonetheless.

He might have to start investing in jogging pants or basketball shorts.

Bonnie held her breath although her lungs were screaming because she was waiting for the inevitable penetration of Damon's fingers.

When he smirked, Bonnie narrowed her eyes. She knew he wasn't going to give her what she wanted although she had been subtly thrusting her hips upward seeking out the touch of his fingers.

"Wait for it," Damon chided.

Bonnie glared at him. "I've been waiting all night."

That sentiment earned her a hard kiss that pushed her lips against her teeth—hard. She moaned when Damon broke the kiss. His azure eyes burned her as they fixed on Bonnie's mint green orbs.

"Oil on satin that's what your pussy feels like."

Bonnie gulped and panted. If anything she probably got wetter, and Damon wasn't even touching her!

The dark-haired vampire toyed with her opening. Bonnie's breath hitched as she clutched Damon even tighter between her legs. Her nails dug into his biceps.

"_Fuck_, you're sopping wet," Damon groaned.

"Kind of happens when you're around."

The seductive vampire smirked and swooped in to lick her clavicle. And as he was doing that, Damon slipped his index finger inside of Bonnie.

"…shit…" the witch choked.

"This right here," he pulled his finger out to which Bonnie pouted, but her pout turned into a hiss when he flicked her clit. "This is what I like to think of as your fuse box. I can turn it on and turn it off based on how much pressure I use with my fingers." Damon showed her by pinching that rigid flap of skin between his fingers.

Bonnie grabbed his hand. "Please…"

"Please what?"

Bonnie didn't know. She just wanted to feel that internalized pressure building inside before it spilled over like boiling water.

"Play with me…" Bonnie whimpered.

Damon sunk his finger back into her and added another. Slowly he worked his digits at a leisurely pace. He couldn't keep this up forever because one very demanding part of him was feeling highly neglected.

He had been hesitant to ask Bonnie this. Damon had no problems with going down and eating, but he wondered how Bonnie felt about giving head. He really didn't see her as the type to service a guy orally, but he wasn't so quick to write it off, either. Bonnie had given him several pleasure-filled hand jobs, but now he wanted her mouth on him.

Admittedly getting blown wasn't _that _high on his list of priorities, but in his mind it would be like establishing a sacred trust between them. Damon had shunned other women for Bonnie, let go of whatever ties were left that bound him to Elena. He was free to be with Bonnie in any and every way, but he was unsure if that was something she was comfortable with.

So he concentrated on getting her off, of making her high.

Bonnie had her eyes screwed so tight she was already seeing stars while Damon manipulated his fingers. She was completely and totally drenched. Her breath hitched until she felt light-headed as Damon piston his fingers in and out of her core while his thumb traced circles on her clit.

Her crescendo built to climatic levels and then Bonnie was free falling back to earth. Letting out an ear-piercing and guttural scream, Bonnie's back arched off the car seat while her hand tightened painfully in Damon's hair. Her body jerked as if electrocuted and for one second Bonnie could have sworn that her heart felt bloated with love.

The dark vampire watched in somewhat jealously as Bonnie came down from her euphoria. She blinked her eyes rapidly and stared up at Damon who looked flushed if that were possible. He had never been more beautiful to her than he looked right now.

Cupping his cheek, Bonnie leaned up and kissed him, and then tried to get her thoughts together. Something else wanted to fall off her tongue but instead she murmured, "If I said 'thank you' would you feel insulted?" she nibbled a corner of her lip.

"No," Damon snorted. "I would feel insulted if you hadn't enjoyed yourself. That would mean I've fallen off my game."

Smiling, Bonnie lovingly curled her fingers in the hair on the nape of Damon's neck, unconsciously massaging away the sting of her earlier hair pulling actions. They were quiet for a while and Damon utilized that time to pepper her plump cheek with kisses.

"You didn't…" Bonnie started to speak and stopped.

"What?"

Bonnie stared at Damon guiltily. He always made her feel good but she hadn't done the same for him. She touched him, she kissed him, but that had been the extent of it. Bonnie thought back to her dreams and the thing she did to Damon in this very car after he had picked her up from some random party. That definitely sparked some inspiration.

Quickly sitting up, which was a mistake because the blood had yet to return to her head causing her brain to swim, Bonnie climbed into the front seat.

"Let's go."

Damon glared at her. "Go where? Home? I'm not cheap you know. I just don't finger anybody, and you didn't even buy me dinner."

Bonnie returned Damon's glare with a droll stare. "Seriously, are you really going to sit back there and mope? Come on, Salvatore," Bonnie offered up a saucy little smile. "I'll make it worth your while."

Groaning, Damon clamored behind the wheel and started the engine as if he were being put out. But he was burning with curiosity.

Things were quiet once they hit the highway. Bonnie stared at Damon askance before sliding closer to him. For his part, Damon kept his eyes on the road but that didn't mean he wasn't aware of Bonnie. He shifted in his seat and tightened his grip on the wheel.

Dropping her hand on his thigh, Bonnie squeezed and noted he was nothing but hard muscle underneath his jeans. Leisurely Bonnie trailed her hand up until she brushed over his noticeable bulge.

Damon cleared his throat and kept driving. Unbeknownst to him he was smirking.

Bonnie's deft little fingers popped the button and, keeping her eyes on his profile, she lowered the zipper. Damon Jr. sprang free, glistening with precum waiting to be devoured. Tucking stands of hair behind her ears, Bonnie positioned herself as best she could and then took Damon in her mouth.

He nearly ran off the road.

Was she a mind reader now?

Damon didn't know what the hell to do. Keep driving? Pull over so he could experience his very first blow job compliments of his stunning girlfriend? He wasn't given much time to make a decision as the feeling of Bonnie's hot mouth moving up and down his engorged shaft monopolized his thoughts.

Her tongue swirled around the head; Damon blew through a red light. Her hand worked up and down to cover the part of him she couldn't gobble, Damon ended up driving on the shoulder. She flicked her tongue like a whip against his skin, he almost ran into the back of a Wonder Bread truck.

That was it, he pulled over about a mile away from the boardinghouse, cut the engine, killed the lights, and reclined back to give Bonnie better access.

The sounds her lips and tongue were making as they smacked against that hardened muscle was erotic enough to cause Damon to shoot off a creamy load into the back of her throat. He didn't have to guide her on what to do because it seemed she came equipped with a manual that told her what he liked.

Several times his eyes rolled into the back of his head and when he felt his toes curling in his boots, Damon was just seconds away from blasting off into space—the final frontier.

Chest heaving up and down, Damon pounded the canvas roof of his drop top almost punching a hole through it.

He grunted, came _hard _and felt his reserves shooting off like fireworks until there was nothing left.

Bonnie sat up and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Damon could hardly lift his eyelids, but he managed and looked at Bonnie who was openly appraising him and waiting.

"You are the devil," he panted. "And you're here to ruin me."

"No, I'm not the devil, Damon. I'm an angel of mercy."

And diving back down to start all over again, Bonnie just proved she was the exact opposite of what she just said she was.

"**I did what I thought **was the right thing to do. If I felt he wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut then I _never _would have agreed to meet with them in the woods and reveal my secret. You have to believe me, Bonnie."

The young witch stared down at her friend like an imperial monarch—contemplating. She loved Caroline knowing her heart was too big for her own good sometimes, and Bonnie also knew that Caroline oftentimes revealed things to others that should have been kept secret. In her own way of thinking Caroline thought she was being helpful, but more often than not she made a situation a hundred times worse.

In this case, Bonnie was on the fence if Caroline had done the right thing in divulging the truth about herself and Mystic Falls to Aleksander or whatever the heck his name was. Scratching the palm of her hand, Bonnie moved away from her friend, but she felt eyes on her and briefly looked at Damon who stood like a club bouncer with his arms folded across his tight black T-shirt and no-nonsense expression on his face.

She averted her eyes as memories of what they did last night rushed to the front of her mind.

"I do believe you, Caroline," Bonnie said after a while. Damon snapped furious eyes at her believing she was being _way _too easy on the dumb blond.

Remembering their discussion the other night, Damon diplomatically kept his mouth shut by the skin of his teeth. Although he was sure his anger was radiating off him like steam.

Caroline looked up at Bonnie feeling hopeful. Her earlier trepidation about being summoned to the Salvatore boardinghouse was abating. She knew she wasn't out of the woods yet and would have to tread very carefully. It didn't escape her that Damon looked like he was pulling the chain of his leash and was ready to rip her to shreds. But she also noticed something else.

Any time Bonnie moved, Damon's eyes were on her. And he wasn't looking at Bonnie as if he were searching for a weakness, but more like…

Nah, Caroline inwardly shook her head and laughed gaily at her own ridiculousness. Damon would never idolize, fall for, or obsess over anyone who wasn't Elena Gilbert.

But…that little devil sitting on Caroline's right shoulder began to whisper in her ear and told her to think back to the time Bonnie awoke out of her coma. She knew through Elena that Bonnie and Damon slept in the same bed, and they _had _been disappearing for hours at a time for several weeks. Add in the fact Damon called her out of the blue and told her to invite Bonnie to have dinner at the Grill and neither one showed up, something fishy was going on.

Caroline had caught Bonnie several times in Biology smiling for no damn reason and constantly checking her phone and texting someone. And the blond vampire couldn't exactly remember the last time she observed Damon drooling all over Elena. In fact, the few times she saw them interacting it were as if Damon were rebuffing her.

However, Caroline still wanted to believe that Bonnie would never fall for Damon. Not that she believed they ever hated one another, but they had their own dynamic where they literally doled out punches. She would even go so far as to say they were under each others skin but for different reasons. Damon liked to control things like a puppeteer. Bonnie was a leader in her own right yet even Caroline couldn't deny that when they worked together, their plans always came to fruition.

A respect had grown between them, and when Caroline thought long and hard about it…Bonnie was the only person Damon actually respected—consistently she should say.

And the way he was staring at her best friend now like a man besotted, like a man in heat, Caroline had to struggle to remain in her seat and not snatch Bonnie away.

Damon had a reputation for destroying anything he got his grubby little hands on. Bonnie was that one untouchable thing that Damon hadn't marred although he came close to succeeding. Bonnie had blamed him and Stefan for Sheila's untimely passing, but as time wore on Bonnie put her grandmother's death aside, became a team player in keeping Elena Gilbert alive, but she never went out of her way to try to befriend either Salvatore.

Now, everything was different. There was a camaraderie between Stefan and Bonnie that hadn't been in place before her coma. They were like two peas in a pod. And Caroline could only imagine the ways Damon tried to capitalize on having a witch living under his roof.

"Caroline?"

The girl in question shook her head when she heard her name being called. She looked up at Bonnie who was staring at her quizzically.

"What?" she asked and tapped her feet on the floor. That's how badly she wanted to jump up and point some fingers.

"Look," Jeremy intervened. "I know we probably should have asked permission," the boy said snidely, "before telling Aleksander the truth, but really what's he going to do? You two are just trying to make a big deal out of nothing."

"I wouldn't consider it nothing that the same day you two clowns decide to reveal secrets that I just so happened to get shot three times," Damon widened his eyes.

"You were shot?" Elena asked, brow furrowed. Typically when something like that happened either she was a witness to it or she was the first to find out. Here it was a brand new day and she was just learning the truth. But Elena checked herself. She didn't share that kind of relationship with Damon anymore.

"Good," Jeremy deadpanned and rolled his eyes.

Damon pushed away from the desk, but a tiny hand on the center of his chest prevented him from taking another step. He glanced down at Bonnie who merely lifted a brow in silent reproach.

Everyone watched the two of them having their silent discussion. Damon backed down.

"Who shot you?" Elena asked willfully ignoring what just took place between her best friend and Damon.

"I don't know," Damon answered emotionlessly. "But I will find out and return the favor. With interest," he flashed a here-and-gone smile.

Bonnie dropped her hand from Damon's chest and turned to face the others who had assembled. They, with the exception of Stefan who had been styling his hair in a mirror, stared back at her like she was a three-legged horse.

"There's a hunter in town that coats his bullets in vervain," Bonnie pointedly stared at Caroline who infinitesimally nodded her head. "Moving forward just be mindful of who you talk to and what you talk about. I'm sure that Damon being shot has nothing to do with your heart-to-heart with Aleksander, but we've been burned by people we thought we could be trusted in the past. All right?"

Jeremy looked bored but shrugged. "Whatever. Are we done? I have things to do."

"Yeah, we're done," Bonnie said and not a minute later Jeremy grabbed his bag but he didn't leave right away.

"Again," Caroline said in her defense and stood up from the couch. "I thought I was being helpful."

Bonnie offered her friend a smile and then checked her cell. "I have to go."

"Where are you going?" Damon questioned.

"I'm meeting with Aleksander. I promised I'd talk to him."

"Umm…didn't you just finish giving me the third degree about talking to strangers and now you're off to do the very same thing?" Caroline folded her arms tightly across her chest.

"Well, he knows what you are and the truth about Mystic Falls, no need to be tight-lipped about anything now," Bonnie slipped into her denim jacket and flipped her long hair behind her shoulders.

Damon approached her. "Why do you have to be the one to talk to him? I don't trust him and I sure as hell don't trust you to be alone with him."

Bonnie pursed her lips as she stared into her boyfriend's concerned blue gaze. "I think you know better than anyone that I can take care of myself."

Wordlessly Damon reached for his leather jacket. "I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not."

"Yes the hell I am."

"No, the hell you're not, Damon. For all intents and purposes you're supposed to be dead. Just lay low here for a while. I'll be back before the street lights come on," Bonnie playfully rolled her eyes and tossed him a saucy smile.

The whole time the two of them went back and forth Elena, Caroline, and Jeremy watched each one with a different emotion brewing on their faces.

"What the hell is going on between you two?" Jeremy asked as he gripped the strap to his book bag tightly. So tightly that his knuckles changed color.

Stefan snickered from his corner knowing this was going to be good.

Instead of answering, Bonnie gripped Damon by the back of the neck, pulled him forward and kissed him.

A collective gasp went up in the air and Stefan had to stifle his need to clap. But he did say:

"Finally! My OTP is canon!"

Three pairs of eyes snapped in Stefan's direction—outraged, before snapping their attention to the couple sucking each others face off.

"What the fuck!" Jeremy was furious. "Bonnie what the hell are you doing?"

"It looks like she's kissing Damon," Stefan materialized next to Jeremy who jumped a little at his sudden appearance.

Elena's mouth opened and closed and she couldn't grab on to a single word to describe what she was witnessing with her two eyes. Her stomach bottom out and the world tilted dangerously on its axis. This couldn't be happening.

Caroline pretty much accepted what she was seeing now that her earlier speculations had just been confirmed. But still…she didn't like it.

Jeremy looked ready to kill. Bonnie hated Damon and she had been no fan of his either. So when, why, where, and how did they get to a point they thought it was perfectly fine and _normal _to kiss one another?

By the time Bonnie and Damon came up for air that's when Bonnie noticed the silence and tension in the room. Sparing everyone a look over her shoulder, she pecked Damon's lips once more before stepping away.

"I'll let you explain that," she pinched his cheek, grabbed her purse, and was out the door before anyone could yell _Bingo!_

**Nero turned at the sound **of a car pulling up behind his. He watched with hunter green eyes as Bonnie stepped out of her car. She had agreed to meet with him in the square although he had wanted to speak with her somewhere more private.

"Hi," Bonnie said softly.

Nero inclined his head. As weary as he was of her, this town, he still remembered his manners and upbringing. There was some part of him urging him not to trust Bonnie but as he stared at her it wasn't just a beautiful young woman he was looking at but something more. He didn't know what that more was and as much as he detested having access to a person's private thoughts, when he deliberately tried to read her mind, Nero found himself incapable of doing so.

"Thank you for meeting me," he spoke graciously. The two of them headed on foot over to the grassy knoll in downtown Mystic Falls. They found an empty bench and sat down.

Things were quiet and tense for a moment, each teen looking at the people who were peppered throughout the lawn. Some were reading, some played soccer, others just sat in clusters talking and laughing. This town looked so normal but was anything but, Nero had just discovered.

He turned slightly to face Bonnie. "I guess I should start with my name. My name isn't Aleskander. It's Nero Stathopoulos…a mouthful I know," he smiled a bit ruefully. "I'm the second born son of Johannes and Diana Stathopoulos. My father was a real estate mogul. My mother was a retired concert pianist. I lived a simple but privileged life and then one day my entire family was killed. But by some miracle I made it out.

"A man Misha Cristova gave me a new identify and told me to come here, to this place," Nero looked around. "I'm just trying to figure out the reason why."

Bonnie sat and listened as Nero told her about his upbringing, about his parents, and how he came to be in Mystic Falls. By the time he was finished she felt her heart go out to Nero. He was an orphan that had been transplanted to a country where he knew no one. But most importantly, he had no idea as to why his family was murdered. There was a reason for it rather than it being a random act of violence, yet Bonnie guessed it might have had something to do with his protection ring. Experience taught her it was a place to start.

"Nero… was your father a collector by any chance?" Bonnie asked carefully.

Frowning, Nero thought back to the private holdings his father had. Paintings, rare pieces of sheet music, artifacts from forgotten worlds, weapons.

Lots and _lots _of weapons, some of them dating back to the first century.

"He was. Anything that was rare my father wanted it; practically hoarded it. But his pride and joy were his crossbows. He must have had dozens of them. I used to make fun of him and accuse him of wanting to be a gladiator or something. Why do you ask?"

"I'm not sure, but it may be possible that your dad…he may have been a hunter."

Incredulity flew on Nero's face. "No," he vehemently shook his head. "My father may have been eccentric but he was no Van Heilsing if that's what you're suggesting."

Bonnie licked her lips and pressed on. "Did he ever get missing for long periods of time? Come home looking exhausted or worse for wear, and was vague on his whereabouts? Did he ever make you drink or keep an herb called vervain close to you?"

Nero's eyes widened. He remembered that everyday after school his mother would make him and his siblings drink tea. He hated tea but drank it anyways. One of his sisters had asked about the special ingredient his mom would add to their tea and she only replied saying:

"It helps keep your mind as your own."

Nero never understood what she meant by that. And when his younger brother Ivan wanted to know the name of the herb, his mother finally told them.

"She did," Nero stared at Bonnie excitedly for a minute. "But my father…he wasn't exactly…he was robust! If he was a hunter and that's a huge if…then he might have been when he was my age until…" Nero trailed off. He had no idea when his father might have stopped hunting if he hunted at all.

"We'll figure this out," Bonnie said. "Vervain is poison to vampires but harmless to humans. It makes you impervious to mind compulsion something they use to get you to comply with their wishes. Coupled with your ring you'll be safe."

"I don't understand this, Bonnie. How is any of this possible?" Nero twisted his protection ring on his finger before sliding it off. "How can this simple piece of jewelry protect my life?"

"Witchcraft," Bonnie said lowly. "A witch can enchant anything with a protection spell."

Nero shook his head furiously. "I don't believe in witchcraft. I don't believe in any of this stuff," the confused teenager slipped his ring back on. "My father gave me this ring when I turned fifteen. He said it had been in our family for generations dating back to the late fifteen century. I had family who lived in Transylvania back then," Nero scoffed. "Don't tell me they were fighting Count Dracula."

"It's possible," Bonnie shrugged. "You probably come from a family of hunters and I'm sure your father would have told you the truth…"

"Had he not died."

Bonnie nodded solemnly.

Turning the brilliance of his eyes on Bonnie, Nero stared at her. "Why would Misha Cristova tell me to contact _you_?"

Bonnie wondered the same thing, but then again her family was pretty famous in the occult world. Still, Damon would kill her if she spilled her secret but it was hers to tell and Nero…if anyone caught a whiff of what he might potentially be his life was going to get _a lot_ more complicated.

"He probably told you…" Bonnie hesitated. "He probably told you because I'm…a witch."

The screams of children filled the dead air between Nero and Bonnie. He blinked. "Right. Of course you are. Is this Oz and no one has told me?"

Bonnie smirked briefly. "Yeah, just call me Glinda the good witch."

**The house was empty **which it took longer for that to be achieved than Damon would have liked. Bonnie literally hung him out to dry to deal with her ass backwards friends. Each of them had an opinion that was more ridiculous than the last which they didn't hesitate to share, but Jeremy fucking Gilbert was the one who snatched the cake, the plate, the silverware, and the table cloth.

"She still loves me and I know she does. She's only using you to make me jealous."

Damon had laughed boisterously before grabbing Jeremy roughly by the neck and hauled his ass out. Elena and Caroline he promptly kicked them out of his abode as well. Their rants had fallen on deaf ears because Damon never tailored his wants and desires for anyone and he sure as hell wasn't about to start now. He and Bonnie were together and they had better get used it.

As for Bonnie, he'd deal with the missus once she returned, and Damon had the perfect punishment in mind for her.

Smirking to himself he went back to searching the stacks in the library. His interest was piqued on the engravings on the wood bullets so Damon figured now was as good a time as any to blow the dust off his inner researcher and try to find some answers.

Being grounded was for the birds but Bonnie had a slight point in telling him to lay low. Until he somehow, someway found the culprit responsible for mistaking him for a stag, Damon had to bury his head in the sand. He didn't enjoy sitting on the sidelines because Damon was a mover and a shaker but you couldn't move and shake shit up when your ass couldn't leave the house.

Sensing he wasn't alone, Damon slowly turned to face the entrance of the library.

Blocking the doorway was none other than Elijah Mikaelson looking as GQ as ever. Damon watched as the Original looked around the library familiarizing himself with the décor since the last time he stepped foot here had been just a day before the infamous sacrifice.

Slipping a hand in his pocket, Elijah coolly turned his attention to Damon. "How can I be of service, Damon? Your fifteen phone calls said it was urgent," Elijah said humorlessly.

If there was one thing about Elijah that annoyed Damon—other than his supposed nobility—it was probably his unflappability. Nothing seemed to get under the Original's skin and if it did, well, you wouldn't know until your head was on the floor. Perhaps it was envy Damon felt whenever he dealt with Elijah. Whereas he was reactionary to everything that oftentimes put him in more shit than he was currently in, Elijah was so damn composed it was unnerving.

Damon picked up one of the bullets and held it up. "What can you tell me about this?"

The veil never fell from Elijah's face, but Damon could tell he was surprised. Within seconds Elijah was standing in front of him and plucked the little deadly object out of his hand.

"Where did you come across this?"

"Me and _two _of its friends became very acquainted two nights ago."

Elijah lifted a brow in understanding. "I'm assuming you didn't see the shooter."

Damon placed a sanguine smile on his face. "If I had you and I wouldn't be talking. Or at the very least we'd be having a much different conversation."

"And if that's so," Elijah took his eyes off the bullet to stare at Damon, "what do you I think I'd be able to tell you?"

"Everything you know about that marking. I know it's the mark of a hunter. Your little brother was kind enough to share that info with Bonnie. What I want to know, Your Grace," Damon mocked. Elijah pulled his lips back from his teeth. "What _kind _of hunter are we dealing with?"

DBDBDBD

**"_The last time I had the misfortune of seeing that mark was the winter of 1123. I was in Italy as were Niklaus and Rebekah who had caught the eye of a man called Alexander…"_**

Connor Jordan sat behind the wheel of his pickup slicing into a green apple. He had been parked outside of Sheriff Forbes' house for the better part of the morning waiting for her lovely teenaged daughter to come home.

**"_Alexander was going from village to village warning people about the existence of blood drinkers. He told them of ways to protect themselves. Showed them how to fashion tools from the very trees which sheltered them as a way of defense." _**

Placing the apple slice in his mouth, Connor checked the time on his watch. Doing surveillance was a necessary evil but time consuming. He would give Caroline another ten minutes before he moved on to his next target. He wasn't sure, but he had been positive that the rounds he fired into Damon Salvatore should have ended him. He didn't exactly stick around like he was trained to do, but if Damon were still alive then that was all the proof Connor would need to move about the next phase of his plan.

This town had secrets and there were those who were well aware of those secrets. He was going to expose them all or at least die trying.

**"_It didn't take long for Rebekah to catch his eye. She invited him to dine with us and he said that he knew there were an original species of vampire and he had been tasked by a witch to hunt them all down…destroy them. There were four others like him and they called themselves The Brotherhood of the Five." _**

Just as he was finished with his apple, Caroline's black Ford Fiesta pulled up alongside the curb. Connor watched as she exited her vehicle and walked towards the front door. Quickly slipping out of his truck, Connor jogged across the street.

**"_He carried with him a special sword. Alexander said the sword was a map, a map to his destiny, he believed, and once he had killed enough vampires he'd know what his next course would be. The markings on this bullet are the same markings that were on his sword."_**

"Excuse me," Connor said once he was in reaching distance of Caroline.

Turning around, blonde hair flying, Caroline stared at the man approaching her. "Yes?"

"Sorry to bother you but is your mom home?"

"I'm not sure. I can check but I don't think so."

"Oh, I just remembered…she's at the station. I had an appointment with her," Connor stretched out his hand. "I'm Connor by the way."

**"_At some point Rebekah had fallen in love with Alexander despite knowing what a danger he posed to our kind. She had hoped to show him that not all vampires were evil. That there are some of us capable of love, of trust. They were even engaged to be married. But Alexander deceived her. He knew her secret all along and stabbed her through the heart with a dagger. A dagger covered with white oak ash."_**

Caroline extended her hand and the minute her skin came into contact with Connor's leather glove, it started to burn. Instantly Caroline snatched her hand away and when she brought her eyes up to Connor's she noticed that they had turned flat, soulless.

Run away Caroline, her brain gave her feet the order and she blurred away like a phantom only she didn't get far before her hip exploded, then her shoulder, and finally the back of her neck—cerebellum to be more precise. She landed unconscious on the sidewalk in a pool of blood.

**"_Klaus slaughtered Alexander and his small retinue of followers. He went on a quest to hunt down and find the others. He learned these hunters were different. They were human—yes but were inhumanly strong, fast, difficult to eliminate. Compulsion is useless against them."_**

Connor stood over Caroline and briefly looked around her neighborhood. Kicking her over until she lied on her back, he tucked a piece of paper in her jean pocket, picked her up and then broke into her house. He laid her out on the couch, and then disappeared like mist.

DBDBDBDB

Damon's eyes trailed Elijah as he paced around the library. "So in other words you're saying we're fucked?"

Elijah snorted at Damon's crassness. "Perhaps…perhaps not. The Brotherhood of the Five is a shadow organization. I haven't had much trouble with them since the twelfth century but I haven't exactly gone out of my way to look for them, either. Now it would appear they have found their way back home."

Perplexed, Damon cocked his head to the side. "Home?"

"Why yes. They originated here. And if they've come out of hiding it means they know of my family but more to the matter…"

"They know about the hybrids," Damon finished. He sighed audibly. "What is your brother doing about this?"

Elijah paused in running an immaculate finger down the spine of a book. "He's handling it in the best and only way he knows how. He's taken care of the vampire blood thief who has no connection with The Five. But unfortunately said blood thief isn't the one responsible for the murders that have befallen the town."

"Of course not," Damon muttered flatly. Them being able to kill two birds with one stone was virtually unheard of.

Elijah stepped to Damon for the final time that afternoon. "As much as I would love to let you off your leash so you can have your way with the hunter should you come across him _or_ her first…I feel I should warn you."

Why?" Damon asked.

"You un-daggered me and in your own way reunited me with my family. I owe you." Pause. "If a vampire kills a hunter, then that unlucky fool is riddled with suicidal hallucinations leaving only a single option—death to escape such torment. You think suffering with a werewolf bite is bad…this, I promise you is a thousand times worse."

"And you know this how?"

"I had to watch my brother suffer for half a century," Elijah raised an eyebrow. "This is serious business, Damon. Watch yourself."

Elijah was gone before Damon could reply with something caustic. Once again the ante had just been upped.

**Bonnie stared at her cell phone **and wondered where Caroline was. She had called her hours ago and hadn't heard anything. She hadn't heard from Elena either which was shocking because Bonnie had expected to get an earful from her. Trying not to worry, Bonnie told herself that her friends were probably busy with school stuff so she went back to fighting with the zipper of her dress.

Bonnie lowered her arms and blew her bangs out of her eyes only for them to fall right back into place. She stared at her reflection in the floor length mirror, admiring the way the silk fabric of the dress hugged her curves. Apparently it was doing too good of a job hugging her because she couldn't get the zipper all the way up.

"I don't understand," she planted her hands on her hips. "This zipped just fine in the store when I tried it on last week."

She turned to the side and her eyes ballooned as she saw how much bigger her ass had gotten. It looked like she stuffed her underwear with a soccer ball.

"Need some help?"

Bonnie turned around and smiled at the figure looming in the doorway to her room. "Please."

Damon pushed away from the threshold, strolled up to Bonnie and dropped a kiss to her exposed shoulder before his nimble fingers reached for the zipper. One sharp tug was all it took and she was vacuumed in her dress.

"Can you breathe?" he asked, humor dancing in his eyes.

"Who needs breath to look fabulous?" she said. "Do you like it?"

Damon ran his eyes over her, loving the way the dark rich color of the dress complimented her caramel skin tone. Bonnie looked excellent in whatever she decided to wear, but it was something about tailored designer threads that did something unexplainable to her. She exuded an animal confidence he'd associate with a female wolf or a lioness. She was commanding, powerful, sexy, and he felt an interesting stirring taking place in his trousers.

"Mm-hmm. Are we going somewhere special?" he wrapped his pale white arms around her and squeezed. Damon began to sway their bodies.

Bonnie reached up and entwined her fingers through his hair. "No. I just wanted to try this on again."

He couldn't resist not putting his mouth on her, so he kissed her temple. "Is there something you want to ask me?"

Bonnie frowned. "Ask you what?"

He rolled his eyes. "Come on. Don't make me into a desperate thirteen year old. There's some event coming up at your school. An event in which the girls ask the guys."

Realization dawned on Bonnie. "The Honoria Fell dance. Yeah. We're not going to that."

Now it was Damon's turn to frown as he quickly spun Bonnie around so she could face him. "What do you mean we're not going that that? I thought girls lived for that crap?"

"We do, yes. But I have other plans for us that night."

He wiggled his eyebrows at her and then lowered his head to take her lips in a desperately needed kiss. Once her lips touched his it was as if the problems of the day ceased to exist and it was just the two of them living in their own personalized oyster. And since Damon made his relationship with Bonnie official it seemed that he was splitting his time between getting shot, dealing with Originals, and trying to find a killer. He just wanted to spend his time with Bonnie but it seemed the world and everyone in it had other plans for them.

Bonnie kissed him back with equal fervor, and squealed when Damon fell backwards on her bed taking her with him. She broke the kiss and proceeded to trace his lips with her fingers.

"How was the rest of your day?" Bonnie wondered and rubbed the tip of her nose along his jaw line.

Damon stared up at the ceiling. "It could have gone a lot better. Elijah told me some story about a group of super hunters called The Brotherhood of the Five. It seems they've resurfaced to clean house."

Bonnie frowned. "Sounds serious."

"It is," Damon muttered gravely. "But not to worry…I'll deal with them, it, whoever." He wouldn't tell her what would happen to him if he succeed in killing the hunter or hunters. No need for Bonnie to fly off into hysterics. Yet.

Bonnie refrained from commenting. She knew Damon needed something to do or otherwise he was liable to cause mayhem simply to alleviate his boredom.

"Enough with the doom and gloom," Damon sat up and rested his weight on his elbow allowing him the opportunity to stare down at Bonnie. "How did your talk go with that kid?"

Bonnie filled Damon in on what she learned about Aleksander aka Nero. And Damon certainly wasn't pleased that Bonnie divulged her secret. Now this punk was just another person to be added to the long list of people he was going to have to keep an eye on.

"Everyone knows about us now…does this change anything?" Bonnie played with Damon's fingers.

"No, it doesn't change anything. You want to know what I learned…you can't please everyone. And not everyone is going to be happy for you."

Bonnie nodded. "But how did Elena and Caroline take it?"

The elder Salvatore sighed and rolled his eyes. "Neither one were happy. But they can jump off a bridge for all I care. The only person I'm worried about keeping happy is you," Damon squeezed her fingers affectionately.

"I get that," Bonnie said tentatively. "But I need you to think back to how you treated them both and how that might influence their…attitude about us."

Damon clenched his jaws together and glared up at the ceiling. Why was everyone so damn intent on making him remember the pest he used to be? He wasn't _that _Damon Salvatore anymore and if they couldn't accept it well boo-boo for them.

"Are you expecting me to apologize?"

It was hard to miss the edge to his voice. "It wouldn't hurt but only if you're truly sorry for what you did."

Damon gently pushed Bonnie off of him and rose to a sitting position on the bed. Bonnie did the same. Already she could feel a wedge forming between them.

"So if I don't say sorry to Vampire Barbie and the doppelganger does that mean you're going to withhold special privileges until I do?"

Bonnie wrapped her arm around Damon's and rested her chin on his shoulder. "I'm not going to condition you like that, Damon. You're a grown man and you know when you've done wrong. They're my best friends. I'd hate to lose them because they feel some kind of way about the man I've chosen to be with. But at the same time, I'm not going to let that dictate our relationship."

"You mean that?" Damon said with a sudden urgency as he faced Bonnie.

When Bonnie smiled he felt a dark part of him fill with something that scorched him from the inside.

Bonnie was everything someone with his background and past didn't deserve in a mate. But she wanted to be with him which told Damon he was worthy of love. She was willing and able and…if it meant he could have free access to her heart by simply apologizing to her stupid friends, he'd do it.

In time.

He wasn't completely whipped after all.

Bonnie stared into his azure eyes and found herself standing on a precipice. Damon was everything a sensible girl should stay away from, but she stopped being sensible long ago, or more to the matter allocated her sensibility into a more practical field. The thought alone of letting Damon walk out of her life for any reason made a physical ache lance through her.

"Yes," she finally answered. "I mean that. You are my choice and I don't regret it."

He pulled her forward and captured her lips again. "My purpose is to make sure you don't," he mumbled almost inaudibly but Bonnie heard him anyways. Their lips fused together like magnets once more.

However their interlude didn't last long before Damon's cell phone started buzzing. Pulling it out of his pocket he saw that it was Liz calling.

"Business," he told Bonnie who pouted and then stood up from the bed and twisted and turned in front of the mirror. She distracted Damon as he held the phone up to his ear. "Liz…what's shaking?"

**Holding two fingers up in the **air to signal the bartender, Connor hefted his weight into a bar stool.

"Hey…nice tattoo."

Swiveling his head in the direction of the voice, Connor kept his face blank as he stared at Jeremy Gilbert.

"Thanks," Connor said then watched the boy as he grabbed two glasses of Coke and headed over to the pool tables. His eyes then fell to his right hand, his unblemished right hand. No one could see his tattoo but him…until now.

In the far corner of the restaurant a pair of blood red lips smiled until dimples appeared. He may have just found his man.

Chapter end.

**A/N: What exactly happened to Caroline? Hmm. I am keeping some aspects of the hunter's story that happened in the show to a certain degree, but I haven't exactly fleshed out what the symbols may lead to if they lead to anything at all. I want to create a nice balance of Bamon relationship stuff so if the hunter's arc gets missing for a chapter or two I hope that's all right. I certainly don't want it to overshadow Bamon but if it does and it might, let me apologize for that in advance. I know most people read stories because they're only interested in reading the fluff, angst, lemons of the pairing, but I always try to infuse a decent secondary plot behind all of that, so I just ask you bear with me on that front. **

**And to Kiara…Keiko, Stefan's girl will be making an appearance soon. I just need to flesh out some other characters first. Well, I hoped you guys enjoyed this, and I apologize again for the long wait for an update. My muse operates on her own schedule. Until next time, love you!**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Now that the show is giving us Bamon in small, almost microscopic doses, and Bonnie finally took charge, names, kicked asses I'm finding my muse being less cooperative because her inspiration was driven by all the plotholes in TVD. The only good thing I can say about S3 is that it fueled my muse. The show has a ton of work it needs to do, but now that (hopefully) Bamon may be around the corner, I'm finding less to complain about which is weird lol. But in terms of this story, I do apologize updates have been slow. For all my stories I should say, but I am a busy woman. I hope you guys like this chapter. I feel I squeezed too much into it, but well it is what it is. And I can't say this enough but thank you for the reviews and continued support. Let me know what you think. Love you!**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Caroline Forbes never **understood what real pain was until she became a vampire. After Stefan schooled her on the pros and cons of being immortal, Caroline foolishly thought that life would be a breeze so long as she avoided being staked in the heart, lethal amounts of vervain, and sunlight. Bonnie made her a daylight ring which afforded her the chance to live as normal a life as possible, and for a while she did. Caroline was fast, strong, could turn a guy's nuts into mush if he came at her the wrong way.

However, nothing at all could prepare her for what she was undergoing now.

Being shot in the head at point blank range by a pissed off werewolf had been…well it didn't exactly feel good and Caroline only felt the after effects the minute she regained consciousness. This time around, being shot with a wooden bullet in the back of the skull felt like a torch had been lit inside of her, and fire was painfully licking up and down her spinal cord making the fight to remain lucid all the more futile.

Biting down again on a piece of wood her mom had squeezed between her teeth, Caroline clamped down until splinters injected into her lips and gums.

Her screams filled the air while Dr. Meredith Fell tried to take out the bullet that was slowly decapitating her.

"Caroline…it's going to be okay," Liz murmured reassuringly to her daughter, hands covered in blood up to her wrists as she looked across the kitchen table at Meredith who had been struggling for the last forty-five minutes to remove the bullet lodged in her neck.

Meredith knew all about Caroline's undead status and was assured she'd survive, however, she couldn't locate the bullet with her instruments, and she feared if she went any deeper she might accidentally sever Caroline's cerebellum from her spine. This was a delicate operation even if her patient wasn't human. She had been able to remove the other two bullets, which Liz bagged as evidence. But the third was proving to be more impossible one to remove.

Another ear piercing scream shattered the nerves of both professional women. Meredith had seen her fair share of gore so this wasn't distressing her, but knowing she was causing pain rather than alleviating it was making her hesitant in her abilities to do what needed to be done.

"How much longer?" Liz asked.

Sweat pebbled along her hairline and the center of her back and chest, Meredith tried to keep her hands steady though they were sweating and swelling inside of her latex gloves.

"I don't know. If I could _see _where the bullet is I should be able to get it out," Meredith flashed her dark onyx eyes to Liz. "It might actually be lodged in her brain. I just don't know, Liz, but I do know she's going to need blood. Did you call for reinforcements?"

Nodding, Liz checked the time on her watch. She had called Damon almost thirty minutes ago. "He should be on the way."

"_MOOOMMMMM!" _Caroline's shrill voice captured both women's attention.

"Just try to hold on a little while longer, baby," Liz encouraged and then cursed silently. What the hell was taking Damon so long?

**Tires squealing against **the asphalt announced his arrival. Damon was out the car, Bonnie fast on his heels carrying a cooler that was filled with blood bags. The two of them walked the short distance from the curb to the porch.

Bonnie looked around and noticed that a few of Caroline's neighbors were standing on their porches or lawns, their eyes directed at the sheriffs residence.

Damon spotted the nosy neighbors and offered charming smiles. "Its scary movie night," he said hoping to explain why screams could be heard from the street.

Placing his hand on the small of Bonnie's back he quickly ushered them inside.

"Liz, we're here."

The woman in question stepped out of the kitchen, a look of relief washing over her face. She waved both Damon and Bonnie to follow.

Bonnie did so but at a much slower pace. Her heart was in her throat, and twice already she nearly dropped the cooler. She hated seeing her friends, anyone she cared about in pain, and from the teeth shattering screams that filled the air, it was easy to say that Caroline was in a tremendous amount of discomfort.

The scene that greeted her chartreuse eyes was straight out of a graphic novel. Caroline lied belly down on the kitchen table, the area starting from the base of her skull to her mid back was covered in blood so thick it looked like paint. Her shirt was a discarded mess on the floor, and blood splatter stained Caroline's designer jeans.

"I have the…b-blood," Bonnie said and sat the cooler down on a nearby chair.

Damon turned to her. "You don't need to see this."

"I…" Bonnie coughed to clear the dryness taking over her mouth. "I can do the spell I did the night you were shot."

Meredith didn't stop her feverish work, but she did give Bonnie a sidelong glance before redirecting her attention back to Caroline who had grown deceptively quiet.

She lost consciousness again.

"Bonnie…" Liz tried to intervene. "You really should let Meredith and Damon handle this."

"No…no I can help. Please. Let me try."

The three adults traded expressions. Meredith had one of her fingers pressed down on a vein because Caroline was bleeding out at an alarming rate. She was slightly afraid to remove it. She looked at Damon.

"What's the recovery healing time for a vampire?"

"That's been shot?" Damon hunched a shoulder. "It depends on the placement of the bullet and the vampire. But it shouldn't take Care more than an hour or two before she's up and operational again."

Meredith licked her lips and then stepped aside. She kept her finger pressing down on that vein.

"Bonnie?"

Hearing her name being spoken startled Bonnie but she swiftly snapped into action. Her eyesight grew cloudy and Bonnie demanded that her tears keep away.

Poising her hands over Caroline's neck, Bonnie closed her eyes and began chanting. The power within her coiled like a snake, ready to strike. Heat spread from the center of her chest until it fanned out, encompassing all parts of her before flaring from her fingertips. The words spilled from her mouth in one long stream, and before anyone knew it, the bullet was out, hovering slightly in the air before Bonnie plucked the object from its invisible string.

"Oh, thank God," Liz said and then brushed Caroline's dampened hair aside. She wasn't awake and didn't look to be waking up any time soon.

"We need to get her blood. ASAP," Damon reminded and retrieved the cooler.

"I can start an intravenous line," Meredith felt it might be safe to remove her finger so she could get to her bag.

Liz approached Bonnie and drew her into a brief, yet awkward hug. She then redirected her attention to the bullet.

"I need that so it can be logged as evidence."

Bonnie stared at the bullet transfixed. The markings looked similar to the ones that had been engrained on the bullets she removed out of Damon, but there were noticeable differences. Subtle differences but differences all the same.

Were they dealing with the same shooter? That was the new question.

"Bonnie?" Liz called her name.

"Oh, right," the young witch handed the bullet to Liz. "Do you mind if I take a picture?"

Meredith and Liz both froze and stared at Bonnie aghast.

"No, I'm not trying to be morbid. I've seen that symbol before and I just want a record of it so I can do some research."

Liz still didn't look convinced but nodded her head. Bonnie snapped as many close-up shots as she could and then left the kitchen.

Collapsing her weight on the couch, Bonnie rubbed her forehead. Damon joined her.

"You okay?"

"No, because we're dealing with a very serious hunter who almost killed you and now he or she has come after Caroline. Call Stefan and tell him to watch his back."

"Stefan will take care of Stefan. My concern is _you. _You just pulled a bullet out of your best friend's skull. And though Vampire Barbie is not one of my favorite people I know what she means to you, Bonnie."

It was sweet he was trying to be the understanding boyfriend, but what Bonnie wanted was answers.

Running his fingers down her cheek, Damon kissed Bonnie's temple. "I need to go have a talk with Ric."

"Okay, I'll stay here. I want to be here when Caroline wakes up."

"All right. Keep your phone on."

Damon walked to the door, but stopped when he felt Bonnie detain him by the arm. "Please…be careful."

Nodding his head, Damon vacated the premises.

**Three hours later **a disoriented Caroline entered her bedroom. Her face—ashen, hair—a mess, clothes—beyond saving, but very happy to be alive the blond vampire sat down on the edge of her bed and shucked off her boots.

Bonnie joined her and softly closed the door behind her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Caroline shook her head.

"Can I get you anything?" Bonnie tried again.

Once more, Caroline shook her head and then stood up from the bed. "I just want a shower."

"Okay. I'll give you some privacy."

"No, stay," Caroline raced over to Bonnie and grabbed her by the arms. Her little girl was showing and she didn't want to be left alone even though her mom was here, but being around Bonnie Caroline felt safer.

"All right, but I'm not washing your back," Bonnie teased and then flounced on Caroline's bed.

Caroline tried to smile but then her chin quivered. Bonnie was off the bed in an instant and pulled her best friend into her arms. She knew what Caroline was thinking. That this _always _happened to her. Being kidnapped, held, and tortured until someone came along to save her. Once again her life had been thrown in the balance, and being immortal didn't make her exempt from being a target.

"It's okay. We'll find out who did this," Bonnie whispered reassuringly.

Sniffling, Caroline wiped mucus from her nose with the back of her hand and grimaced. Once her cries turned into sobs she pulled away.

"I was so stupid. We had just finished talking about not trusting strangers and what do I do? Say hello to someone and get shot."

"Hey, you couldn't have known what would happen. You were shot in cold blood. It wasn't your fault."

The blond vampire shook her head. "But I should have been able to sense _something _was off. I mean…what's the point in being immortal if I'm still going to make stupid _human_ mistakes? I need to be smarter and more aware. I can't…I can't keep letting this happen to me."

Bonnie pasted a smile on her face. She knew it would be pointless in trying to argue Caroline about this. If she stood in her friend's shoes she'd feel the exact same way.

"Do you remember anything about the shooter?" Bonnie asked.

Caroline's brow furrowed as she tried to retrieve those memories of what took place between the time she left the boardinghouse to pulling into the driveway of her home. There was nothing there but a void.

"It's all fuzzy. I can't…I can't remember _anything _and I should be able to remember something. This doesn't make any sense."

"Well, being shot in the back of the head I would assume it would take a minute for your memories to return," Bonnie said.

Caroline nodded, accepting Bonnie's words. "Just don't go anywhere, okay?" she implored and headed to the bathroom. "Besides, you have a lot of explaining to do."

Hearing that made Bonnie's stomach bottom out. She had forgotten that her clandestine relationship with Damon wasn't so secret anymore.

"Oh," Bonnie murmured.

"Yes, oh," Caroline said from the bathroom and then unbuttoned her jeans. She felt something in her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Frowning, Caroline opened it and read what had been written. Her hands began to shake.

"Caroline?"

Jumping, the young vampire finished undressing and then turned on the shower. She cleared her throat to make sure her voice would be steady. "I'll be out in five minutes and then you are going to cough up the details of your momentarily lapse in sanity."

"I'm not insane because I want to be with Damon."

Caroline snorted despite the fact her entire body was shaking as if an internal earthquake was taking place.

**Damon and Stefan **Salvatore didn't have many traditions that they shared amongst themselves. Other than sharing parentage and bad history they didn't have much in common. But there was one activity they didn't mind engaging in to pass the time.

Tossing around the pigskin.

Standing on opposite ends of the massive living room Stefan and Damon began to discuss several facts and hard truths that landed in their laps.

"Hunters…originals…witches…hybrids…we sure do know where to plant some roots, don't we, Damon?"

"Hey, we were here first."

"Technically we weren't but we'll go with that. So Caroline doesn't remember the name or the face of the person who shot her?"

"According to Bonnie that's what she claims," Damon tossed the ball with all his strength at Stefan who caught it with a little grunt.

"You don't believe her?" Stefan returned the favor. The ball whistled through the air and nearly hit Damon in the chest.

The elder Salvatore growled a little. "I know a truck could drive through Caroline's head on any given day, but even she wouldn't lie about something this important."

"Unless whoever shot her threatened her," Stefan caught the missile Damon just launched at him.

"Threatened her with what? Making her a redhead? Other than Liz and her friends…what does Caroline Forbes stand to lose?"

"I think you just answered your own question, Damon."

Sailing the ball in the air, Stefan unnecessarily zipped around the room, caught his own pass only to be clothes-lined by Damon. Not wanting to remain the only man on the field, Stefan kicked Damon's legs out from under him. The two brothers stared up at the wood beam ceiling.

"We gotta find this hunter, Stefan. He is seriously fucking up my honeymoon period, and I don't like it. I was about to get lucky the other night."

Smirking, Stefan sat up and rested his elbow on his bent knee. "You talked to Alaric about this?"

"There's not much he can do other than ask around the few self-made hunters he knows. But Ric did say some guy by the name of Connor Jordan stopped by the school and asked to speak with him. Unfortunately he was gone by the time Ric made it back to his classroom. He hasn't seen or heard from the guy, but if he's new in town then one plus one equals two."

Stefan nodded. History had taught them that whenever a new face popped into town nothing good ever came of it. Hell, he and Damon were living proof of that fact.

"So we find this Connor Jordan…question him…ruin his credit," Damon snorted, Stefan continued, "and if after all that he proves not to be the one we're looking for…?"

"Then we write him an awesome eulogy," leered Damon.

"But what about Elijah's warning?" Stefan questioned. "You know the fun part if a vampire kills a hunter then that vampire is bombarded with suicidal hallucinations for all eternity?"

"Then, brother, I guess that means we need to put on our creative thinking caps to figure out a way to get rid of said hunter without dooming ourselves in the process."

Stefan randomly decided to switch topics. "The dance is tonight. You and Bonnie going?"

"No, we have other plans," the blue-eyed vampire wiggled his eyebrows.

Rolling his eyes and then standing to his feet, Stefan wiped imaginary dust from his jeans. Damon was a neat freak and suffered from a mild case of OCD. He vacuumed and cleaned almost everyday so finding dust and dirt would be a challenge.

"Just remember, Damon…if you do anything to ruin what is now canon I have a flame thrower and I'm not afraid to use it."

The vampire in question stared at his brother like he lost his marbles or was taking this "shipping" thing _way _too seriously.

"I really think you need counseling, Stefan," Damon announced and then made his way up to his bedroom.

"Hey" Stefan yelled, "every immortal needs a hobby, man!"

**Steam followed him **out of the bathroom. The scent of his body wash was heavy in the air. Damon slowed his steps the second his eyes landed on Bonnie who lounged on his bed. She leaned up after resting on her elbows.

She and Elena had spent the night with Caroline and it was his first time seeing her all day.

Approaching, Damon stood between her legs when he was close. The thick towel he had draped around his hips somehow magically loosened and fluttered to the floor.

"Oops," he said sheepishly trying to make his face as innocent as possible.

Bonnie saw through the act and dropped her eyes for a quick look. Her brows lifted in approval.

"You're serving me breakfast in bed?" his eyes traveled over to the blood bag on the night table.

"Not exactly considering its midday," Bonnie replied.

"I am hungry," his eyes darkened like a cloudy sky just before a torrential downpour.

Wordlessly Damon leaned forward, loomed over Bonnie as she fell backwards on the bed. He kissed her deeply still marveling at the fact that he struck gold in having someone like Bonnie Bennett in his life. Luck like this was usually reserved for people like Stefan who had been good for the vast majority of their lives. Sure Stefan had his dark moments, but he had been an upstanding, law abiding, daddy-worshipping loser when he was human, and was loved nearly obsessively by two women as a result of it.

Damon moved into position between Bonnie's legs. He tossed her right leg over his shoulder, skimmed the tip of his nose along her naked thigh. Bonnie had her eyes planted up to the ceiling but then looked down in time to watch Damon's face transform. He hesitated.

"May I?"

Numbly, Bonnie nodded.

He sank his fangs into her.

Bonnie arched off the bed and Damon clamped his hand around her hip to keep her steady. If she moved too much, he might lacerate the artery and she could potentially bleed to death. He had to be exceedingly careful.

Stefan inhaled deeply. He could smell Bonnie's blood all the way in his room. Instantly his mouth began to water and before he knew what he was doing, his feet had carried him out into the hallway.

"Stop!" he hissed at himself. Stefan warred with his own natural instinct to seek and conquer. He gritted his teeth and forced his feet to march downstairs and to leave the boardinghouse altogether. The sudden blood temptation had been far greater than he ever remembered it being, and this worried him. Stefan ran his tongue across his gums hoping to soothe the ache.

Didn't make a damn bit of difference.

He froze and listened to Bonnie's little sighs of happiness and pleasure as Damon got to feed from her.

His eyes slowly lowered and Stefan, if he concentrated hard enough, could actually taste Bonnie's blood on his tongue.

Damon was one lucky bastard, and this might be one of those rare times Stefan envied him.

Very carefully, Damon ejected his fangs from Bonnie's thigh and licked the little rivers of blood that formed on her skin as a result of his feeding.

"You're not feeling light-headed are you?" he questioned as he leaned away.

The world swam around Bonnie but the sensation wasn't due to blood loss but from the heightened frenzy of her own hormones. She wanted Damon so badly that her loins were in pain.

"No," she said breathlessly, "no, I am but not because of that."

He stared at her peculiarly and then pulled her to a sitting position. "You need a juice box," he teased.

Bonnie slapped his arm. "Shut up. You need a bib because you made a mess."

Damon stared down at the little splatters of blood that populated his chest. He wiped a drop of blood off and popped the digit in his mouth.

"What are we doing tonight?" he asked. "I know Stefan is going to try to feel up some chick in her taffeta dress," he snickered.

Bonnie's eyes rolled in her head for a second. It was taking a little longer than normal to recover.

"Hun?"

Damon did not like her disoriented state at all. Without hesitation he bit into his wrist, grabbed Bonnie by the back of the neck, and pulled her forward until her lips wrapped around his bleeding appendage.

Bonnie drank his blood with the same enthusiasm she showed when she had to swallow cough syrup. She pulled his wrist away and resisted spitting his blood out by the skin of her teeth. But it was Damon so down the hatch it went.

"It does have a kinky tang to it doesn't it?" he asked.

"Is that what you like to think of it as?" she wiped the corners of her mouth. "I feel much better. Thanks."

He inclined his head. "So back to my original question. What are we doing tonight?"

Bonnie snuggled up on the bed. Damon, still butt butterball naked, snuggled up beside her. "After what happened to you and Caroline…I don't think we should go anywhere."

Groaning, Damon said, "I'm not going to put my life on hold simply because some bigot with a gun and vervain drenched bullets is out there. Life is too short to live the same day twice."

Bonnie laughed. "I see what you're saying and you totally stole that quote from _Monster-in-Law._"

"All right, busted but it doesn't make it any less true. We haven't done a whole lot of couple-ly things since we've been together. I can be romantic…I think," Damon frowned in contemplation.

Bonnie got lost for a second in drawing designs along Damon's peck. "You're going to take me some place I've always wanted to go."

His eyebrows rose as the corners of his mouth turned down. "Hmm…and where might that be?"

She shook her head. She didn't want to divulge anymore details. "The only other thing you need worry about is what to wear. Black. And leather. If you have any."

"Okay, wait. You want me to wear my favorite color and leather? Are we going to some underground S&M club?"

"Umm I thinks not," Bonnie quickly refuted and began to slide out of bed. "Be ready to head out as soon as the sun goes down."

Damon kept his gaze locked on Bonnie as she walked towards the door. "Where are you going?"

She paused. "I've been enlisted to help the girls get ready for the dance although I don't think Caroline should go. But it's the least I can do since I'm bailing on them in favor of going out with my boyfriend," she smiled and left the room.

Damon smiled too and noticed he wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing as was semi-erect. "Bailing on them in favor of going out with your naked, horny as hell boyfriend," he mumbled and rose from bed.

**Night had fallen. **Bonnie observed Stefan as he stood in front of his floor-length mirror buttoning the vest to his suit. He and his brother could wear tuxedos like no one's business. She hung near the threshold and merely observed Stefan for a moment before pushing away from the door.

Bonnie spotted his jacket lying on the bed. She retrieved it and made her presence officially known by standing behind him so he could see her reflection in the mirror. His eyes shifted to look at her and he offered up a slick smile.

"Couldn't stay away could you?" he asked and reached for his jacket, but Bonnie held it out of reach. She indicated that she wanted to put it on for him. Stefan stood perfectly still and then slipped his arms into the appropriate holes.

Bonnie ran her hands over his shoulders, feeling nothing but granite beneath her hands. She swiveled in front of Stefan and adjusted his indigo tie.

"If I've never told you this before, but dark colors look amazing on you, Stef."

He buttoned his jacket. "You want to know what else looks good on me?"

Bonnie knew where this was going and glared at him threateningly.

"Okay fine," he pouted. "I'm guessing you approve of my attire."

Bonnie gave him a thorough once-over and held up the universal sign for Ok. "And Keiko will too the minute she sees you. Come to think of it, is she coming here?"

Stefan shook his head. "But she will be coming over tomorrow for dinner."

Bonnie stared at him crossly, and gave him a shove. "When were you going to tell me?"

"I just did."

She sucked her teeth. "I mean before now, moron and you know that. Were you just going to spring her on us at the last freakin' second?"

Stefan looked off as if he were in deep thought. "Something like that," he grinned. "Look, you won't have had to do anything because I'm cooking," he said as if that resolved the issue. "And if you're planning on giving her the third degree—don't."

Bonnie folded her arms defensively over her chest. Of course she'd ask probing questions to ascertain Keiko's sincerity. Stefan was one of her favorite people and also a vampire. Sorry to say it but it took a certain lady with cajones to be with him. Weaklings need not apply.

"I'll do whatever I please because you're my friend, and I need to make sure that the lady you're choosing to be with is on the up and up."

"Well I guess I should be happy you're willing to give her a chance without immediately trying to plot her death."

"I'm gracious that way, yes," Bonnie smiled. "Well, I've held you up long enough. Go have fun," she wrapped her arm around his waist and squeezed. Stefan reciprocated but upped the ante by kissing her lightly on the temple.

Bonnie smiled shyly and then left his room to get ready for her own date.

**Pacing back and forth **in the atrium, dressed in a snug black short sleeved T-shirt and his leather pants, Damon heard the tapping of her high heels against the steps. He looked up and whistled the minute Bonnie came into view.

She was wearing the thigh-high Christian Louboutin boots he purchased for her birthday. She too had decided to dress in all black, pairing the sexy boots with a mini satin tiered skirt and a tight sleeveless tank. Bonnie wore her long hair pushed to the side as it rippled along her neck in waves. Her makeup complimented her all black attire in soft, natural tones. The only splash of color she decided to add was berry colored lipstick. Gold bangles decorated her arms, as large gold hoop earrings adorned her ears.

Damon reached for her hand and he spun her around. "I likey," he complimented.

Bonnie blushed and admired Damon in his leather pants. They were masculine enough that didn't leave one questioning his sexuality. Yet the all black against his alabaster skin really made his blue eyes electric just the way she preferred them. It really should be criminal for a man to have such pretty eyes.

"If we keep ogling one another like this," Bonnie began, "we'll never leave this house."

"Is that such a bad thing?" he intoned before nibbling her neck.

Bonnie shivered. "I guess not."

Damon opened the door allowing Bonnie to step out first. She waited for him as he locked up and joining hands again they walked to the garage.

Bonnie had expected them to either hop into the Camaro or the Ferrari. Damon, instead climbed on the back of a Harley Davidson motorcycle. He revved the engine and motioned with his head for Bonnie to hop on.

Giddily she did so. Any other time she would have made a ruckus about messing up her hair, but right now, she was feeling nothing but dangerous. She wrapped her arms tightly around Damon as he zoomed off. Bonnie had given him directions to their first stop of the evening so Damon was literally driving in the dark to a part of town he very rarely, if ever, ventured to.

Her legs were shaking and wobbling by the time Damon pulled into the parking lot of the strip mall. He parked the Harley in front of the address Bonnie had given him feeling bemused as the buzzing neon sign told him of their destination.

The Lizard's Lair.

A dark eyebrow cocked in the air as Damon felt Bonnie climb off the bike. He cut the engine and did the same and stared down—correction looked directly in her eyes—thanks to the added height the boots provided, and asked without speaking if this was the place she intended.

"It's a tattoo parlor," Bonnie explained and walked towards the door.

Damon beat her there utilizing his vampire speed. "You're going to get a tattoo?"

Bonnie nodded her head and walked through the door. She had researched tattoo parlors online. She didn't want to get one in someone's converted double wide. The name, notwithstanding, The Lizard's Lair had gotten high reviews from satisfied customers, and the lead tattoo artist affectionately called Lizard and the owner of the establishment did exceptional work. Bonnie had seen photos to back up those claims.

Bonnie waited for Damon to say something smart and when nothing came, she stopped her progress inside and looked at him.

"You don't have anything smart or negative to say? Like aren't you worried about gangrene or being infected with Hepatitis?"

Damon shrugged and sunk his hands into the pockets of his leather pants. "Obviously you've done your research and admittedly…" he grinned. "I think its fucking sexy of you to get a tattoo. So…" he drew her close and whispered in her ear, "where are you getting my initials engrained on you?"

Bonnie pushed Damon away, ignoring him. "I know exactly what I'm getting and where."

The front of the tattoo parlor looked like any ordinary retail store. There were revolving displays filled with pictures and prints of tattoos for those to choose who didn't have anything specific already designed. The sound of a buzzing needle caught and held Bonnie's attention for a tenth of a second before she tapped the bell on the counter to let those working in the back know they had a potential customer.

Not a minute later a rail-thin man with a ball head but supplemented metal spikes in the shape of a Mohawk for hair stepped out.

From Damon's perspective every single inch of his body was covered with some kind of art. The only thing really left unscathed was his face. The guy looked like a traditional tattoo artist. White male probably in his early to mid-thirties with a skater boy complex.

"Hey, welcome to The Lizard's Lair, I'm Lizard," the man placed his hands on his chest. "What can I help you with today?"

Bonnie licked her lips. "Hi, we spoke on the phone earlier today. I'm Bonnie."

"Oh, right," Lizard extended a heavily tattooed hand out to Bonnie who shook it. "Nice to meet you. You still want to do what we discussed on the phone?"

Bonnie nodded.

"Cool. I drew some samples during our consultation."

Damon had to admit he was surprised by Lizard's professionalism. This wasn't a hobby he turned into a career, but this was a career he turned into a lifestyle. Damon stood behind Bonnie since she was running this show and eyed the drawings that Lizard placed on the counter.

Each drawing was of a phoenix rising from the ashes. He looked to Bonnie impressed with her selection. And it didn't take a genius for him to figure out why she had chosen the phoenix. They were immortal in their own right, and coming out of a coma, of course Bonnie would see that as a representation of rising from ashes. Only for a second she had him worried she might get something dumb or traditional like a rose or a butterfly.

How many butterfly tattoos had he made flap its wings in the past if you caught his drift?

Bonnie chose one that was big enough to make a statement, but small enough so it wouldn't be overbearing.

"That's my favorite, too," Lizard said. "Where do you want to do this?"

"Lower back."

"Always a personal favorite," he said. "Now," Lizard pulled out a stack of documents that would require Bonnie's signature. "Here's the boring part to tattooing. I have to explain these forms. We've already covered payment."

Bonnie had pre-paid, that way she wouldn't talk herself out of getting a tattoo. And this was something she wanted to do for herself as her own birthday gift. She knew without a doubt that Damon would have covered the cost of everything without asking, but there was still a large part of her that didn't want to be a kept girlfriend. She wanted to bring something to the table as well.

The couple listened as Lizard explained the forms Bonnie would be signing which basically said she was giving him permission to permanently mar her skin, and that she wouldn't sue if she contracted a disease. Yet she also knew The Lizard's Lair held cleanliness in high regard and each customer was essentially purchasing their own tattoo needle along with their tattoo. Sharing needles for any reason was forbidden.

Once the business side was finished, Lizard motioned for Bonnie and Damon to follow him.

There were two other artists working on clients when Lizard showed Bonnie to his station. He washed his hands as if he was about to perform open-heart surgery. Bonnie made herself as comfortable on the red leather chair after adjusting her clothes so Lizard could place the tattoo where Bonnie wanted it to go.

Damon stood and watched.

Bonnie tensed only a little when she heard the buzzing of the needle, and bit her lip when it hit her skin. Damon reached for her hand and held it.

She gritted her teeth and slowly inhaled and exhaled.

Lizard worked diligently. Only pausing when he needed to add a different color ink to the needle. Every now and again he'd ask Bonnie or Damon a question, but he wasn't one for idle chit-chat unlike his other tattoo artists who were busy holding Def Comedy Jam.

"We're almost done, love," Lizard announced as he filled in the last spot in the burning flames that the phoenix was rising from.

The color was exceptionally brilliant Damon had to admit. Clearly one could tell it was a tattoo, however, if you took a quick glimpse you could swear the bird was just seconds from jumping off Bonnie's back.

"We're done," Lizard said and then cleaned up the tattoo.

Bonnie rose from her squatting position on the chair as Lizard handed her a mirror so she could admire his work.

"It's beautiful," she said.

"Glad you like it. Now you can't get this wet for twenty-four hours. And you'll want to keep it lubricated. Use Lubriderm lotion or Vaseline or whichever you prefer. This will, if it isn't already, hurt like a motherfucker. I advise you take ibuprofen. Watch for signs of infection. If the tattoo begins to bubble or peel, go to the hospital. You might be having an allergic reaction to the ink."

Bonnie nodded in compliance. Now he tells me about possible allergic reactions. The tattoo didn't hurt, not nearly as much as she thought yet Bonnie could attribute that to the fact Damon's blood flowed through her numbing her a bit.

"Do you have any questions?" Lizard asked.

"No, I think you covered everything. Thank you so much, Lizard."

He smiled brightly, and then covered her tattoo with gauze. Once that was finished he handed each of them a business card. He began addressing Damon. "If you're ever in the mood to catch up with your girl, come give me a holler."

"I'll keep that in mind," Damon said lowly. "Ready?" he asked Bonnie.

She nodded, thanked Lizard again and they left the establishment.

On the bike again, Bonnie very carefully sat down behind Damon. The tattoo was beginning to make its presence known.

"Now I can take you to one of my favorite spots," Damon said just moments before roaring the bike to life.

**The next spot on their destination **was an exclusive supper club called The Red Room. It was located forty miles north of Mystic Falls which instantly upped its appeal in Bonnie's eyes. Stepping into another city could sometimes transport one into another world and that's how Bonnie would describe the way she was feeling.

She felt more than magical almost divine and surreal seated in a private booth where Damon ordered bottles of champagne and the most decadent food Bonnie had ever eaten a day in her life. Entertainment in the form of burlesque dancers swept the crowd into a sultry haze that Bonnie came down with a strong case of grabby hands. There wasn't a part of Damon she didn't want to touch and explore with her tongue, hands, lips, and teeth, and Damon certainly did nothing to stop her. In fact he encouraged her gluttony.

When the raven-haired immortal wasn't busy chugging from his champagne flute, he sat back and allowed Bonnie to have her wicked way with him. In between bites of chomping on roasted lamb and cilantro, Bonnie took advantage of Damon's languid state to nibble on his lips, chin, neck, and earlobe. She even sampled the tip of his nose.

She was feeling dangerous and adventurous thanks to her new ink. And she might have been slightly tipsy as well. Damon was hot and commanding. Women and even a few men were having trouble keeping their eyes off him. Normally that would have bothered Bonnie, but there had been no need because Damon couldn't keep his eyes off her for two seconds.

Their waitress, unfortunately, wasn't immune either. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets whenever she approached their table asking if they wanted a refill of anything or extra napkins, as she blushed profusely.

Bonnie growled into his ear when she saw their waitress approaching yet again. She hadn't even been gone for five minutes.

"_If _she comes over here one more time I am going to zap her with a debilitating case of diarrhea."

Damon chuckled, turned toward Bonnie and deliberately devoured her lips, and held up his middle finger. He peeled open his right eye to see their waitress come to a stumbling stop as she quickly made a detour to the kitchen.

"She's gone," Damon nipped Bonnie's lips. "And perhaps now she's received the message that I am perfectly happy with the woman on my arm."

Bonnie smiled in appreciation of his words and polished off the rest of her champagne. She chased it with some bisque thing she didn't know the name of, but it was simply delicious. Damon sat transfixed and groaned while Bonnie licked her fingers clean.

"I wonder how everyone is doing at the dance. I should check my phone. See if I have any messages," Bonnie reached for her purse to do just that, but complained the moment Damon confiscated it.

"No business tonight. You promised me that."

"But if something happens…"

"By the time we make it back it'll still be too late to do anything other than damage control. Boo," Bonnie giggled, "I know you see yourself as the resident witch who has to protect all the inhabitants of Mystic Falls, but I'm not going to let you burn yourself out—again. Have you forgotten that overdoing it on the magic is what landed you in a coma in the first place?"

Bonnie lowered her eyes to the table, studying her fork. That incident seemed like it took place a lifetime ago.

"I mean," Damon slid a little closer, his voice lowering an octave became more of a caress rather than a reprimand. He ran his fingertips over Bonnie's thigh."I seemed to have developed a surefire technique in bringing you back. But if I'm going to talk dirty to you I want you conscious. I can start right now by saying I want to slide my tongue and my dick, in that order in your dripping…wet…tight…pussy."

Bonnie's mouth had gone dry since all the fluid in her body was redirected elsewhere. "Check."

Damon laughed as he reached into his wallet and dropped two crisp hundred dollar bills on the table. He basically pulled Bonnie out of the booth.

"Did I forget to mention this place also has a sex shop?" he threw out casually. "We should check it out."

Typically, under much different circumstances, a sex shop would have zero interest for Bonnie. But in her defense she didn't have anyone worthy at the time to dress up in elaborate costumes for, and there had never been any need to purchase handcuffs, whips, or chains. Bonnie wouldn't consider herself a sadist or masochist by any stretch of the word or imagination. She was traditional which to someone with Damon's experience and background would label as boring. Vanilla. She wanted to please him; she wanted to recreate the magic that sizzled between them in her dreams. Right now, she just needed a little help in that department.

When she looked over at her boyfriend as he admired some weird contraption that was supposed to be a sex swing, she had to smile because he looked like a geek at a Comic-Con convention. She had never seen his face look so euphoric and giddy. Well, she had no intentions of _ever _getting into that thing, so he could forget it.

She wondered over to the lingerie section and had to stop herself from blushing. Some of the items looked like nothing but strategically placed string. However, as she kept perusing the choices, there was one such item that caught her attention.

A sales lady materialized out of nowhere behind Bonnie. "Lovely piece. It's one of my personal favorites."

Bonnie spun around quickly and stared up at the tall redhead.

The woman smiled. "I didn't mean to scare you. This is called the Veronica, named in honor of Veronica Lake." The woman pulled the ivory and lilac corset with matching lace panties and garter belt off the rack. "And I think your boyfriend would devour you on the spot the second he sees you in this."

Bonnie was rendered speechless for a second. The alcohol had dulled her senses so she wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer right now.

"Oh, I'm not interested in buying this."

The redhead smiled secretly and then whispered something in Bonnie's ear. Bonnie listened and the more the redhead spoke, the wider Bonnie's smile stretched across her face.

That same redhead approached Damon moments later. She tapped him on the arm. "Mr. Salvatore?"

Damon turned around and stared at the woman suspiciously. "Who wants to know?"

"There's a problem with your girlfriend."

Alarmed, Damon began to dart his eyes around the novelty shop. He didn't spot Bonnie anywhere. He knew she had a lot to drink but Bonnie was one who could handle her liquor.

"What happened? Where is she?"

"She's fine. If you'll just come with me."

"How can she be fine when you just told me there's a problem with my girlfriend?"

The sales lady offered Damon the same arresting smile she gave Bonnie. She very gently took him by the arm and led him to a different area of the shop. They walked through a pair of red velvet curtains and entered a dark hallway. Thankful for his naturally built-in night vision Damon could see the hall just as clearly as if the sun were shining.

There were a series of doors lining the halls and they came to a stop at door number six. The sales lady unlocked the door and gently pushed Damon inside.

"Wait here."

He didn't have a chance to protest or demand someone tell him what was going on and where his girlfriend was before the door was slammed shut and subsequently locked behind him.

The room was pitch-black almost to the point where he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face. Yet he heard a heart beat.

"Bonnie?"

Damon felt around in the darkness when his legs crashed into a chair.

Suddenly a single halogen light from the ceiling turned on illuminating a small stage with a silver pole. Damon gulped when he noticed that his missing girlfriend was no longer missing, but was dressed in a detailed corset, panties, garters, and sheer thigh high hosiery.

Damon tumbled into the chair—jaw flapping open by the hinges.

"Hi, Damon. Monet, the redhead, was nice enough to let us borrow this room."

"Borrow it for…?"

Bonnie smiled. "You'll see. She assured me, and I've seen for myself there're no cameras, no two-way mirrors. We're completely alone. And I want to do this for you. Only you."

The room was engulfed by the sounds of "Skin" by Rihanna.

Bonnie was no exotic dancer, pole twirling expert, but she knew how to move her body to simulate certain moves to make someone think she was in the throes of passion. And she did just that. Moving and manipulating her body, twisting and bending, and attempting to take a twirl on the pole only when she was sure there was a move she could execute flawlessly.

Damon sank in the chair and felt his dick harden in anticipation. He couldn't help it. He had to touch himself. He ran his hand along his length through his pants.

Bonnie was currently hanging upside down on the pole as she slid back down to the stage before ending in a split.

The song switched again. Now he was being serenaded by "Would You Mind" by Janet Jackson.

The stage itself began to rotate affording him the opportunity to stare at every single curve, every single graceful line, every single secret she had that wouldn't stay a secret for long.

_Gotdman she has an amazing body. How did I not see this for close to two years? _Damon really had no pity for himself in this moment.

He lowered the zipper to his pants and pulled out his hard rod. Damon lubed his hand with spit, wrapped it around his erection, and began to massage it.

Spurred on by this, a wet spot began to form in the center of Bonnie's panties. She was momentarily distracted by Damon working his hand up and down his shaft at a languorous pace.

"Do you want this?" Damon asked voice guttural.

Bonnie nodded.

"Show me how much you want it," he challenged.

Bonnie sat on the stage with her legs stretched wide as she allowed her fingers to walk over her legs towards the center of her body. Damon dared not blink as he watched his girlfriend run her fingers over her sex. Her head fell back and he had to restrain himself from hopping out of the chair and replacing her fingers with his own.

Bonnie stood up, using the pole for leverage. She turned around, slowly bent over, wiggled her ass to and fro, before boldly pushing her underwear aside.

Damon choked on his tongue, literally swallowed it. Bonnie lost a finger.

She strutted off the stage, throwing extra sway in her hips. She straddled his legs, took that same finger and pressed it into his mouth. Damon greedily suckled it clean, desperate for more.

Bonnie lost her other hand between them and began to fondle Damon.

He was cooing again.

Bonnie chuckled. "I think its time you take me home, Mr. Salvatore."

Needless to say that was the fastest he ever drove to Mystic Falls in his life.

**They stumbled their way **into the boardinghouse, kissing, grabbing, touching. Irritated with their sloppiness, Damon picked Bonnie up and zoomed to his bedroom where he threw her on the bed. She giggled as she bounced against the mattress. But her giggles were cut off prematurely when Damon covered her lips again.

She fumbled with pulling his shirt off while he was busy trying to remember how to unzip her skirt.

There were some technical difficulties maneuvering her skirt down her sky high boots, but Damon was satisfied that he at least had her down to her underwear. Her top still remained but that would only be temporarily.

"Drink. I need a drink," Bonnie panted.

Damon kissed her recklessly again as he stumbled off the bed. This was ridiculous how uncoordinated he became every single time Bonnie made him hard and horny. He was supposed to be cooler than this.

He quickly stood to his feet. "Don't move. I'll be right back," he kissed her again, squeezed her breasts and speedily vacated the room.

Down in the living room he picked up a full canter of his favorite bourbon and two glasses. He danced his way back up to his room, whistling, and laughing that finally, _finally _his self-imposed sex drought was about to end, and he was breaking his fast with the woman it took him a hundred and sixty-eight years to find.

Damon reentered his room and saw that Bonnie was stretched out on his bed, feet dangling over the edge. However there was something seriously wrong with this picture.

She was snoring. Loudly and like a chainsaw.

His shoulders slumped and he began to whine. "Bonnie."

Nothing.

"Bonnie," this time he growled.

Still nothing.

He pouted. "_BONNIE!" _

Chapter end.

**A/N: We got Baroline, Defan, and of course Bamon in this chapter. Yea! What was in that note Caroline read? Hmm? And yes, you will meet the infamous/mysterious Keiko next chapter. And poor Damon. Dude just can't catch a break. Well, thank you guys so much for reading. **


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Hello y'all. I was going to start this chapter off by adding Elena's POV about Bamon, but I'll hold off until the next update. Some…er…um…important stuff happens and I just wanted to leave this baby the way I wrote it the first time. There are some minor alterations, but not many. Enjoy.**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

**Damon wanted that damn** bird that was chirping happily outside of his window to shut the hell up! All night he tossed and turned in his sleep because he couldn't rouse the warm body that was zonked out beside him. No matter what he tried to do, that girl remained dead to the world.

Sleeping next to Bonnie had become routine but last night had been torturous because the scent of her skin, the feel of her flesh, the taste of her mouth, the sounds of her moans infiltrated every single crevice of his psyche during the pre-show. He wanted that chick like crazy and instead of giving up the cookies, she passed out in a drunken stupor.

Damon had already made it up in his mind he would hide every single bottle of alcohol in the house, and forbid Bonnie from drinking. Normally she wasn't a heavy drinker. She might do a shot every blue moon, or nurse a beer, but she never sat down and tossed back drinks like a pro.

Maybe she drank so much to dull the pain of her tattoo. Or maybe she drank because her nerves had gotten to her. Whatever the reason was, Damon would do what was necessary to make sure another one of their nights did not end the way it had like last night.

Bonnie moved around and slowly stretched her legs and arms before her eyes fluttered open. Her eyes darted around in confusion as she tried to figure out whose room she was in. Slowly she turned her head to the right and saw Damon gawking at her.

Color flooded her cheeks as the debacle of last night hit her like a speeding car. Bonnie covered the bottom half of her face with the bed sheet.

"I fell asleep on you, didn't I?"

He wasn't in the mood to answer, merely nodded his head.

"I'm sorry," she said in a child-like voice.

By the skin of his teeth, Damon didn't roll his eyes. But he merely redirected his attention back to counting the grooves in the paneled ceiling.

"It's okay."

Bonnie sat up in bed, looked at her boyfriend knowing she stepped in it last night. Quickly she dashed out of bed to use the bathroom, and brushed her teeth. She would make it up to him. Last night she felt dangerous and liberated from her usual behavior. With the pain of her tattoo throbbing through her, she used alcohol to dull its effects. And she may have forgotten that alcohol usually put her out like an anesthetic.

She stood in front of the mirror, washed her face, and finger combed the knots out of her hair. It was at that moment she noticed Damon had dressed her in one of her night gowns. Aww, he was so sweet. Yet as she continued her inspection she realized it wasn't the sexiest thing in the world. But whatever.

Bonnie crept her way out of the bathroom and was glad Damon hadn't moved from his position on the bed. He still lied on his back, eyes to the ceiling. Every now and a then he'd blink but that was about it. She smiled a little as she sauntered to his side of the bed, pulled the covers off his legs, and climbed on top of him.

He flashed his eyes to her as she leaned forward and kissed him. "I'm sorry and I should really make it up to you,"she resumed kissing him.

Damon agreed wholeheartedly and little by little his body was beginning to react to Bonnie straddling him. His hands took possession of her hips and then sank lower to grip her by the moons of her butt while subsequently pulling her gown up until her lower half was exposed.

He deepened their kiss by forcing his tongue between the seam of her mouth as his inward frenzy to be joined with her took total control.

He was brick hard within seconds.

Bonnie ground her bottom against his erection causing a delicious friction against her panties, which were becoming soaked the more Damon's tongue slithered around hers.

Thankful he was already naked from the waist up, Bonnie ran her tiny hands over his torso, pausing at his nipples to flick her thumbs back and forth across them. Damon hissed and buried one hand in her thick mane keeping her complacent as he took her mouth to simulate what he was about to do to her in seconds.

"I want you so much," he said in between their feverish kissing.

Bonnie grinned against his mouth. "What are you waiting for?" she questioned.

Damon reached between them to grab a hold of the waistband of his pajama bottoms and began to tug them off. Bonnie lifted her hips so Damon could get rid of one of the barriers keeping them apart.

In his humble opinion she was severely overdressed for this meeting. Once he was free of his pants, he worked on wrenching her nightgown up and off her head. She compliantly lifted her arms, exposing her full breasts to his lustful stare.

He quickly covered them with open-mouth kisses.

"Hey, Whole Foods is having a two-for-ten sale on artichokes."

Damon growled, Bonnie screamed as she scrambled to cover herself up with the covers.

Stefan who had his eyes buried in the newspaper took a seat on the edge of the bed ignoring the hateful glares that were coming from the other two occupants of the room.

Damon _wished _he slept with a stake under his pillow because if he did, it would be buried in Stefan's back right this instant.

"Gotdamnit Stefan get out of here!" Damon roared as he wrapped Bonnie up and gently pushed her off his lap.

Stefan turned around and stared at his brother and Bonnie over his shoulder. He shrugged clearly not seeing what the big deal was but the grin he presented said he knew exactly what he just interrupted, and that he was proud of his timing.

"Oh, excuse me I'll be gone in a second. I just need to get your opinion about something. Now back to this sale Whole Foods is having…"

"I know you didn't come in here asking me about some freaking coupons. Get OUT!"

"Well," Stefan began and cast his gaze on Bonnie who was clearly not happy with him either. "Since he's a little grumpy what do you think I should get for dinner, Bon?"

The girl in question balked. "Stefan…you know you're my boy but if you _do not_ remove yourself from this room right this instant, I will kill you. Slowly."

"Hmm," he said and rose from the bed. "I know when I'm not wanted." With that he bowed before them and walked out of the room not bothering to shut the door after him.

With the twitch of her powers, Bonnie slammed and locked the door for good measure. She looked at Damon who was clearly fuming and still fully erect. She attempted to climb back on him to pick up where they left off, but Damon sat up in bed, threw the sheets off, and slapped his feet on the floor.

"Damon?"

He turned to look at her over his shoulder. She was beautiful as the sunlight coming through the windows bathed her in an iridescent glow that surrounded her like an aura. He wanted to resume what they were doing, but something about Stefan's planned arrival in his bedroom irritated him to levels he hadn't felt in a long time.

"His perverted ass is probably listening outside of the door. Normally I wouldn't care about that, but…this isn't something I want my brother to be privy to."

Bonnie crawled over to Damon and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She kissed the shell of his ear.

"I know a spell that can remedy that."

He was tempted but his mood had turned sour. Damon gripped Bonnie by the hands and kissed them before he rose from the bed.

"Actually I have to meet up with the Council for an emergency meeting," he said and headed over to his closet completely in the buff.

Bonnie's face fell flat as she watched Damon select an all black ensemble and then make his way to the bathroom. She sighed and fell backwards on the bed. But then she jolted up, slapped her nightgown on and went in search of Stefan. She didn't mind it so much when he pestered Damon, but she would not tolerate him purposely interrupting their "bonding" time for laughs.

Just as Bonnie suspected she found him sitting at the desk in his room writing in his journal. He snapped his head up the moment he sensed her glaring at him.

Arms folded over her chest it was plain to see she was pissed off. Stefan gulped nervously. He knew what Bonnie was capable of doing whenever she was upset.

Slowly he sat his pen down. "Bon…"

She held up a hand and took only three steps into his room. "Why did you interrupt us like that, Stefan when you know full well what we were doing? Is this your way of paying Damon back for all the times he barged in on you and Elena? Well guess what. I'm not Elena and I don't find that shit cute. At all! You say you're my friend. Well act like it and respect my privacy."

Stefan's tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth yet he pushed himself to his feet. "Bonnie, I'm sorry."

She shook her head and looked away. "You really have no idea how much he means to me. How much…I want to be with him. I'm sure you think us being together is a joke, but it's not, Stefan."

From the sounds of it, Stefan interpreted Bonnie's spiel to say she was in love with his brother. That certainly made things more interesting.

Stefan rounded the desk and approached her. She took a step back from him and inwardly he sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was build a wedge between them. She was one of his favorite people, and if he were honest he could admit to loving her to pieces. So that meant he'd have to start taking her relationship and feelings for his brother seriously. Sure he made jokes about being their fanboy, but maybe deep, deep, deep down like Hades deep he was.

Tentatively Stefan laid a hand on her shoulder, and turned her to face him. He didn't speak until he had her full attention.

"I'm sorry, Bonnie and I won't do that again. You have my word. That was rude and insensitive of me."

"What's been going on with you, Stefan? You've been…you aren't the Stefan I knew before my coma. What changed you?"

At her questions he dropped his hold on her and began to pace around his room. "You weren't awake so you didn't see how screwed up I was. Spending the summer with Klaus, having him compel me to shut off my humanity, having said humanity reinstated, and fighting it tooth and nail from coming all the way back in. Then, watching over you, it centered me. Gave me a purpose again. There were days I didn't know if I was coming or going, awake or asleep. Everything was hazy and gray and to top it all off, my girlfriend fell in love with my brother. It was a lot to take in, so I made a promise to myself that I'd stop being careful. That I would simply live my life and be completely unapologetic about it.

"From watching you, I learned the hard way that we always put others before ourselves, and yet not many people would do the same for us. So I decided to put my happiness first," he sighed. "I owe you so much, Bonnie." He approached her again.

Bonnie held his probing gaze and felt herself softening. She never did stop to ask Stefan how he coped with being turned into one of Klaus' mindless zombies. She had read about that in the chronicles yet she had been so focused on dealing with her unrequited feelings for Damon, that she overlooked the fact Stefan had suffered. She had been the one to set him on the path of seeking out Klaus to ask him to save his brother.

Guilt slammed into Bonnie.

Stefan recognized that look on her face and shook his head. "What happened to me wasn't your fault, Bonnie. I decided to go to Klaus. I chose to walk down that path. And remember, I had been the one to ask_ you_ to help me find a way to save my brother."

"I understand that, Stefan…"

He placed his index finger against her lips to silence her. "You're not to blame for this. But Stefan had to grow up. Stefan had to establish a life outside of certain people."

She smiled and he dropped his finger. "And as a result Stefan became an a-hole."

He chuckled. "I'm not a complete and total a-hole. I have my moments, but I'm mostly bark and no bite."

"So you say," Bonnie exhaled deeply. "So do I have your word that if you hear or sense that Damon and I are…getting to know each other… um better…unless the house is on fire or about to be raided, you won't interrupt?"

He nodded once.

"Good. I'll see you later."

Stefan watched her leave his room. And removed the hand he held behind his back where two fingers were crossed.

**They called him down here for **this bullshit, Damon railed. Even hours later, the immortal was still irritated. His irritation only grew to astronomical proportions as he sat there and listened as Carol Lockwood tried to justify for the millionth time why she called Special Agent Sara Danvers of the State Bureau of Investigation to take over the unsolved murders.

Calling in outside law enforcement was a _major _no-no and especially in _this _town. As if dealing with the local sheriff's office wasn't tricky enough dealing with an official investigator who wasn't aware of the supernatural history of Mystic Falls had disaster written all over it; and honestly Damon wanted _no_ part of it. His priorities ran in this order: trying to get laid by his girlfriend, replenishing his blood supply, and drinking.

Both he and Alaric had stood, backs against the wall with their arms folded disapprovingly over their chests, stone-faced. Once the meeting was dismissed, Damon pulled Carol aside.

"Have you forgotten there's a thousand year old family in town and what this might mean for ole Goldilocks if she stumbles into something she's not prepared to handle?"

Carol didn't look flustered only cool and indifferent. "She knows the risks that come with taking on a case in a town of this magnitude. And she also knows about discretion."

Damon's smirk was sardonic. "Whatever happens to her will be on your head, Carol. Remember that."

He started to walk away but Carol uncharacteristically grabbed Damon by the sleeve of his leather coat and pulled him back.

He stared down at her hold on him before looking up into her big blue eyes.

"Just remember that not so long ago _you _were the primary person terrorizing this town, Damon. And I'm sure Mr. Bennett, Bonnie's father would love to know his daughter is involved with a sociopath."

Damon pried Carol's fingers off him and was satisfied when he saw her wince. "If that's supposed to be a threat it wasn't a very good one. He's living across the Atlantic completely and totally oblivious to what goes on here because he doesn't give a damn."

Now it was Carol's turn to smirk. "Really?" was all she said before walking away.

"Hey," Alaric tapped him on the arm. Damon shifted to face him. "I spoke with Liz and she and the deputies are on the lookout for this Connor Jordan. I'm about to head over to talk to Caroline, see if she remembers anything."

"Cool, keep me posted," Damon said dismissively.

Of course Damon had wasted the rest of the afternoon trying to decipher Carol's cryptic meaning. He could just ask Bonnie if she knew what her father did after work hours, but knowing the state of their relationship Damon figured she was just as much in the dark as he was.

This naturally didn't sit well with him.

What did anyone know about Daniel Bennett? Damon was sure he had never even seen the man. He could have passed Bonnie's father on the street and wouldn't have made the connection that he was partly responsible for his girlfriend's existence. But what if Daniel knew what and who he was? What if he was a hunter? What if. What if. What if!

Nevertheless, he pushed all of that to the back burner as he stomped his way downstairs. His presence had been summoned for dinner to meet Stefan's stupid girlfriend.

Candles and formal place settings decorated the long table in the dinning room. When he sampled the air to ascertain what was being served for dinner, Damon was able to distinguish roasted chicken, asparagus tips, garlic mashed potatoes, and they were having some type of chocolate mousse cake for dessert.

Stefan came out of the kitchen with four wine glasses and two bottles of wine.

The brothers said nothing to each other, the tension from this morning still clinging on to each of them like smog.

"You must really like this girl, Stefan if you're bringing her around me," Damon grinned wolfishly.

Stefan ignored his brother as he sat a wine glass near each place setting. "You're no longer a threat, big brother because there's someone in your life you're just as worried about losing. And you wouldn't do anything too stupid to mess it up. I think."

Damon cocked a dark eyebrow in the air. That much was the truth.

The tapping of heels caught both brothers' attention as they directed their gazes to the person entering the room.

Draped in a black tea-length cocktail dress and the sky high heels she wore to Lucy's going away party, Bonnie strolled into the room sipping from a can of Redbull. Damon had to smirk a little at that.

"Is dinner almost ready? Do you need help with anything?" Bonnie asked.

"No," Stefan cleared his throat. "Everything is done and Keiko should be here in the next ten minutes."

Bonnie sat her drink down on the table at the same time the door bell chimed. All of them looked at one another before Stefan headed off to open the door.

Damon grabbed the wine, uncorked the bottle and filled everyone's glass. Bonnie stood rubbing her palms together, studying him.

"Damon, what's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Why would anything be wrong?"

"Because you haven't said more than ten words to me since this morning."

He sat the bottle down once he was done with his task and looked at his girlfriend. Damon reached for Bonnie's hand and pulled her closer. She tucked her head under his chin and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

"I think it's just my time of the month," Damon responded to her earlier question. "I'll be fine as soon as I get some food in my belly, blood in my system, and get inside of my girlfriend."

Heat flashed through Bonnie and she shot her eyes up to his mischievous orbs.

"How was your meeting with the Council?"

"It was a meeting. Nothing, like always, was solved."

Stefan and company reentered the room. Damon and Bonnie turned around to welcome the new love in Stefan's life.

The first thought to pass through Damon's mind was that Keiko was a knockout. She was about Bonnie's height maybe a couple inches taller. She was thin up top, not much in the breast department, but she had shapely legs, flawless mocha skin, expressive dark brown slanted eyes which bespoke of her Asian heritage, long midnight hair that she decided to wear pin straight, and a nice set of lips.

Bonnie stepped forward offering Keiko her hand. "Hi, I'm Bonnie. It's so nice to finally meet you."

Keiko shook Bonnie's hand and offered her a beautiful smile. "Nice to meet you, too. I've heard a lot about you." Her dark brown eyes traipsed over to Damon. "And you must be Damon, Stefan's older brother."

Damon shook her hand and hoped his smile wasn't biting or sarcastic. "Stefan's older, smarter, sexier brother. I hope he didn't tell you too many scary stories about me."

Keiko stared at Stefan. "No, he basically said you're just like every other typical older brother out there. That you're a dick."

Stefan coughed to cover up his laugh. Damon actually smiled and Bonnie could do nothing but shake her head.

"But I told him I rather form my own opinion about you. So you're not a dick until proven so."

"Hmm, I think I like this one, Stefan. She seems much cooler than your last girlfriend."

That comment earned him an elbow from Bonnie. Keiko didn't seem to be caught off guard with his comment. She merely redirected her attention to Bonnie.

"I love your dress by the way."

Bonnie stared down at her outfit and struck a pose. "Thanks. I've had it for a while and didn't really have any reason to wear it until now. Are those the BCBG boots from their fall collection?"

"Yep. I have a friend who works in their New York office where they get samples of nearly everything. He thought I would love them and he was absolutely right."

The brothers exchanged glances. Anytime girls started talking about clothes, hair, and makeup it was their cue to leave the room. They vacated to the kitchen to retrieve the food.

Now that the ice was officially broken, everyone sat down at the table. Conversations flowed surprisingly easy as Damon and Bonnie listened to how Keiko and Stefan met.

"He had been giving me the eye all night."

"No," Stefan refuted her claim by the shake of his head. "She had been eye-stalking me. And can you blame her."

Keiko reached over and playfully pushed him. "Whatever. You knew you were sprung the moment you saw me, and don't try to pretend otherwise," she looked at Bonnie. "He couldn't take not knowing who I was so he approached and tried to pick me up with one of the oldest and lamest lines. 'If I could rearrange the alphabet I would put you and I together."

Bonnie laughed boisterously. "Stefan, no you didn't."

The vampire shrugged and took a sip of his wine. "I knew if I started off with something whack and unoriginal it would better my chances. It worked!"

"Have I taught you nothing, Stefan?" Damon wondered. "Keiko let me apologize in advance because it's not going to get any better. My brother has zero skills."

"He has plenty and as weak as it was, he certainly caught my attention. And I knew he said it to be funny, and that he wasn't serious. But after that colorful opening we just had good conversation. I had been feeling particularly homesick that night, and Stefan made me forget all about it."

"That's so sweet," Bonnie murmured and dropped her hand on Damon's knee. "Stefan said that you're from Japan originally?"

Keiko nodded her head. "My parents met when my dad was stationed in Honolulu, and moved there before I was born. It was an adjustment for my mom. No one knew what to make of her because she was Asian in her own right, but she was married to a black man."

"This goes without asking that it was hard for them…being an interracial couple," Bonnie deduced. She thought back to her own experience with prejudice on the night Damon took her to the hotdog stand and those three heifers wanted to know why he was with a black girl.

Keiko nodded her head. "They got it from both sides of their families and from perfect strangers. Nevertheless, they made it work."

Bonnie smiled brightly at that. "What brought you all to Mystic Falls? There's not a military base here."

"My dad retired from service and wanted a nice quiet place to settle."

Bonnie, Stefan, and Damon all exchanged secret glances at that. Mystic Falls was far from nice and quiet.

"But you don't attend Mystic Falls High?" Bonnie went on to question.

"No, I attend Brickman."

"The private school in Petersburg."

"Daddy got a problem with public schools?" Damon bit into his chicken and deliberately chewed slowly as he stared at Keiko.

She didn't wither under his stare. "No, it's not that. He just wants the best education for me. And he knows there's been some…problems at Mystic Falls High."

Everyone grew quiet again. Once more it was another understatement.

"So Keiko," Damon said and threw his arm over the back of Bonnie's chair. "Have your parents met my lily white brother? He's quite the lady killer."

"Damon," Bonnie's tone was reproachful. He puckered his lips at her and blew a kiss.

Stefan merely ran his tongue over his fang as he glared at his brother.

An unrecognizable look flashed over Keiko's face. "He's met them. And they love him. They find him to be very respectable."

Damon snorted into his wine glass. Bonnie offered up another smile at Keiko before shoveling food into her mouth.

"So," Keiko decided it was time to turn the tables on the other couple. "How long have you two been together?"

Bonnie swallowed her bite of food. "Not long. About a month and some change."

"And it's been the best month and some change of my life," Damon boasted and kissed Bonnie on the cheek. She smiled demurely at him.

Keiko saw this yet asked, "And do your parents approve of your relationship?"

Bonnie twirled her fork in her hand. "My dad is living overseas and my mom…she's as good as dead. I have no memory of her."

"Oh," Keiko eyes enlarged. "I'm sorry."

"There's no need. You didn't know."

Conversations kind of stalled before Keiko picked things up again. "So, Bonnie, I want to know what your first impression of Stefan was when you met."

Bonnie stared down at her plate and felt herself blushing. Damon watched her reaction carefully. His eyes narrowed. There was one topic they hadn't exactly covered. How she felt about meeting either Salvatore brother. When he met Bonnie for the first time she was nothing more than background noise to him. Another toy to potentially play with, but she shut him down quick and in a hurry.

"He has this thing about coming to people's rescue," Bonnie looked at Stefan to find his eyes planted on her. "We were in history class with this horrendous man named Mr. Tanner that has…well he's no longer around," Bonnie cleared her throat and Damon wanted to smile at his handiwork of getting rid of the douche bag history teacher slash football coach. The students of Mystic Falls High should have thrown a rave in his honor for getting rid of the King of Pricks.

"Mr. Tanner asked me a question he knew full well I didn't have an answer to, but Stefan jumped in and saved me from looking like a total airhead in front of thirty students. He was all right in my book from that moment on."

Keiko looked approvingly at Stefan who reached for her hand. He kissed it and Bonnie smiled at the gesture.

"Was that how it was with Damon?" Keiko asked. "Did he come to your rescue?"

Damon and Bonnie made eye contact. "I hated his guts."

"I wanted her dead."

They leaned toward each other until their cheeks touched. "But we're still together," they said in unison.

"Well, all right," Keiko said tentatively.

"Who's ready for dessert?" Stefan hopped up from the table to clear the plates.

**After dinner Keiko and Bonnie **made an escape to the patio. Keiko turned to Bonnie. "I was really worried about meeting you."

Surprise flashed on Bonnie's face as she brought her mint green eyes to her. "Why?"

"Usually if a guy talks a lot about a girl it means he views her as more than just a friend. I mean, Stefan has told me repeatedly that only friendship was between you but I felt intimidated by that friendship. You know there's that belief that girls and guys can't be just friends. There is a connection between you and Stefan. One that's hard to ignore, along with how beautiful you are. Yet now I know where the both of you stand."

Bonnie really had no idea what to say to this. "Well, you have nothing to worry about, Keiko. I'm not interested in Stefan that way."

The girl nodded her head. "I know. After seeing you with Damon I know you only view Stefan as your friend. You're in lo-,"

"Ah, we should head back inside," Bonnie cut her off abruptly knowing what she was about to say before Bonnie had the chance to tell Damon herself. "We can't leave Damon and Stefan alone unsupervised for too long."

Keiko hiked an eyebrow in the air yet followed Bonnie obediently back inside.

As she suspected, Damon and Stefan were sitting in the living room drinking whiskey. Bonnie was sure they had been listening to their conversation. She took a seat beside Damon who instantly wrapped his arm around her.

Keiko had taken a seat on Stefan's lap and the two began murmuring things to one another. Damon and Bonnie observed them for a minute.

When it became obvious they were a third and forth wheel, Bonnie turned to whisper something in Damon's ear. "Can we go someplace to be alone?"

He nodded his head and sat his unfinished whiskey on the table.

Bonnie rose from the couch at the same time Damon did capturing the other couple's attention.

"We're going to head out for a while. You two crazy kids don't get into too much trouble in our absence," Damon said and took Bonnie by the hand.

"Keiko it was nice to finally meet you."

"Same here, Bonnie. And I hope we can hang out sometime."

"Sure, sounds like a plan."

Once they were in Damon's car he waited for her to name the place she wanted to go.

"My house," she answered his silent question. "ASAP."

**Bonnie lived on the opposite **side of town in a typical neighborhood where the husband, wife and two point five combo was commonplace.

Her house was a two story brick Colonial situated between a pair of looming trees. Since waking from her coma Bonnie had only gone to her house three times. Mostly to air out the place and to make sure everything was still working. The boardinghouse had become her true home, and even before her father took off for Paris, this place mostly resembled a mausoleum to Bonnie. It had been void of life and happiness since the early days of her childhood.

It was sad that every other house she spent a great deal of time at: Grams, the Gilbert's and Frobes' always felt more like home than her own house.

Bonnie retrieved the spare key from under a garden gnome and opened the front door. She stepped over the threshold and switched on the light in the foyer.

Damon, his celestial blue eyes began to smolder as he walked as close to the threshold before bouncing against the invisible barrier which kept him out.

"I'm getting old out here, Judgey. Invite me in before I officially turn to dust."

Bonnie leaned against the door. "Do you promise to be on your best behavior if I let you inside?"

Damon shook his head. "Hell no. I only have wicked intentions where you're concerned. You should be worried."

She smiled and then took a step back. "Damon, won't you please come in."

He took a huge step into her house and closed the door behind him. Bonnie grabbed him by the hem of his button down and tugged him upstairs to her bedroom.

Damon wasn't sure what to expect. Bonnie's house certainly wasn't a destination he ever thought about invading for any reason. In the past if he needed her for something he called or texted her and she showed up at the boardinghouse. It had been an arrangement which was convenient for him and worked to all parties advantages. Her father didn't like or agree with her being a witch and certainly didn't want her casting any spells while he was around. So there had never been any need for Damon to spend any time at Bonnie's.

Now that they were together, this was a part of her that had been a mystery to him. Damon had spent his fair share in her two best friends' rooms, had gotten to know facets of their personalities based on the décor of their bedrooms. Bonnie, in this area, was nothing but a blank slate.

They walked to a room that was to the immediate right of the staircase. Bonnie pushed opened the door and turned on the light.

The first thing to catch Damon's attention was the fact it was about half the size of his room. And his room was ridiculously big so that was saying something.

She had hardwood flooring but two large rugs covered it up.

The walls of Bonnie's room were painted a very light green. Her bed was full size with a wrought iron frame covered with a zebra print comforter. Red, green, and yellow accent pillows added color to break up its monochromatic scheme. The matching set of curtains covered a set of windows.

Over her bed was a framed poster sized black and white photo of Lena Horne. Two bed side tables flanked the bed, and hanging on the wall next to the left table was a pair of ballerina slippers.

"You used to dance?"

Bonnie nodded her head. "From the age of five to thirteen. I ruptured my Achilles tendon so that put an end to my potential dance career."

Damon moved farther into the room. Directly across from his current position was a large floral print overstuffed chair with matching ottoman. Next to it was a bookcase that was overflowing. Some of the titles he expected to see and thankfully she hadn't gotten caught up in the whole Stephenie Meyer _Twilight_ fad.

What did surprise him when he turned around to face Bonnie was the fact she had a fireplace in her room. The mantel was covered with pictures of her with her friends. Right beside it was the connecting bathroom.

"What's behind this door?" he pointed to his left.

Bonnie moved across the room, to the door in question and opened it up. "It's my haven."

Damon's eyes ballooned when he saw it was Bonnie's walk-in closet that resembled a retail store. Custom made shelves had been built for her shoes which were on proud display and organized according to type. There was a small island in the center of it. A three way mirror was beside the door, and drawers lined the back wall.

Damon had always been a snooper and figured he'd find trashy and sexy lingerie in the back of the closet.

Bonnie watched as he made a beeline right for the drawers where she stashed purchases from Victoria's Secret, Fredericks of Hollywood, and Adam and Eve.

"Bingo," he said and pulled out one piece he definitely wanted to see Bonnie in. He turned around to face her and noticed she wasn't blushing. "Don't you want to try this on for me?"

"Maybe later."

She walked out of the closet and Damon followed after her. He watched as Bonnie grabbed a few pillows from her bed and tossed them on the rug in front of the fireplace. She slipped off her shoes and kicked them away, watching him, waiting for him to draw closer.

He did so and cupped her cheek the moment she was in reaching distance. Her room fit what he knew so far of her personality. It was neat and orderly and showcased what she loved in life.

The moment their lips came together a fire erupted in the fireplace. Bonnie reached for his belt and wasted no time unbuckling it quickly. She flicked open the button of his fly and lowered the zipper. She snaked her hands inside and grabbed his cheeks. His pants fell to his ankles.

Damon hands weren't idle either. His fingers sought out the zipper to Bonnie's dress and soon it was nothing more than a puddle of fabric at her feet.

Their lips only separated long enough for Bonnie to work his shirt down his arms to join her dress. Damon kicked his shoes and pants off. He hadn't bothered with wearing underwear.

Bonnie stood poised before him in her panties and bra. Damon unhooked her bra from the back, crushing his lips to hers yet again as she maneuvered her arms out of the loops. Together they slipped off her underwear.

When they broke apart, breathing heavily, they stared at one another in the nude.

Damon saw not one imperfection on Bonnie. What she lacked in height she more than made up for in curves. He watched as her chocolate tipped nipples began to pucker and become fully erect and he hadn't even touched or tasted them yet. Lower his eyes fell to that thatch of springy curls that covered her sex. Bonnie's heady aroma began to permeate the air causing his mouth to water. He couldn't wait to eat her.

Bonnie's eyes traced every muscle and graceful line of Damon's torso, arms, and legs before locking on his engorged member. She was transfixed by the size, color, and the veins that protruded from his hardened prick. It was the most beautiful dick she had ever seen. It was just a shade darker than Damon's alabaster hue with a perfectly circumcised mushroom head that begged to be fondled by an eager and willing tongue. It was about the size of her forearm, just a touch bigger width wise.

The longer she stared at him the harder Damon felt himself becoming.

Cupping her cheeks, the raven-haired Salvatore forced her to make eye contact.

What she saw reflected in her eyes terrified her. Keiko had been so close to revealing Bonnie's feelings towards Damon when he wasn't aware of it. She couldn't pinpoint when she fell in love with Damon, and perhaps she always had been in love with him but it was just hidden under so many layers. In any case, Bonnie knew exactly how she felt about him, and from what she saw in his eyes, he was on the cusp of feeling the same way.

This time their mouths came together hungrily and filled with a vengeance that was scary and oh so right. And that's where Bonnie knew she only wanted _Damon _to touch her like this. Some might say she was making a premature decision because she was only eighteen, but Bonnie knew what she wanted. She wanted Damon more than her next full breath.

Slowly they fell to the floor with him on top. Damon used his knee to wrench her legs apart as he settled into her grooves and curves as if she had been tailored just for his body. He licked a trail from her neck, to her clavicle, going father south until he reached her breasts. He cupped the left one and swallowed her whole. Bonnie arched against him and his talented mouth. Damon didn't neglect the other breast for he teased the bud with his fingers. Bonnie wrapped her legs tightly around him, settling her feet on the back of his thighs as she attempted to push him down.

He chuckled at her impatience. "I'll get there soon. Just hold on, baby."

She wanted to whimper yet didn't. Only hissed when Damon began to pay homage to her other breast with his mouth.

Moments later he began to descend again, running his tongue down her stomach, his obsidian hair tickling her flesh. When he reached her navel he dipped his tongue inside, wet it with his tongue and blew on it to dry it. Under different circumstances that wouldn't have done anything for Bonnie, but of course in this moment she found it to be so damn sexy. She shivered.

He was at the apex of her body. Damon slung her left leg over his shoulder. He kissed it, pulled her skin with his teeth before propping her hips up.

Again he blew on her, this time directly on her hardened clit which felt like it might explode at any second. Instead of teasing her with his tongue like she might have assumed he'd do, Damon pinched it between his fingers before sinking those two fingers inside of Bonnie.

She cursed as her eyes fluttered like she was having an epileptic seizure.

His mouth covered her and he began to hum. Bonnie didn't last two seconds before she exploded.

Her pre-ejaculation didn't deter him. Not in the least. Damon only continued to flick his tongue against her center as he worked his fingers in and out of her.

Bonnie squirmed, wiggled, and attempted to climb away from his torture, but Damon held her complacent until he made her come again, this time hard enough that she shattered the overhead light in her room.

His smile was uber-smug as he began to climb back up her body, kissing and licking along the way. He kissed her deeply, smearing her taste against her own tongue. Bonnie wrapped her hand around his turgid muscle and directed it where she wanted it to go.

Damon didn't push in. He pulled back and took his own dick in his hand and rubbed the bulbous head against Bonnie, splitting her lips in half and smearing her juices over him.

Bonnie gritted her teeth and tried to angle her hips so he could sink in. Damon tsk and wagged a finger.

"Be patient, honey."

Oh Bonnie knew exactly where to find patience. In the freaking dictionary between hurry the hell up and move your ass. Instead she took the initiative, locked her ankles across his backside, lifted her hips and arched her neck as _finally _he entered her, sinking in her tight, hot sheath inch by inch.

At the feel of her enveloping him Damon nearly bit his own tongue off. "Oh, gawd," he said.

"Do you feel that, Damon?" she breathed into her ear. He nodded. "That's all yours."

If anything Damon grew harder after hearing that.

He fell to rest on his forearms as he stretched Bonnie's inner muscles to accommodate him. Each time Damon slid deeper, a delicious almost electric sensation raced up his dick and landed right in his balls. She did something, contracted her muscles, squeezed him and he nearly came just from that pressure alone.

Once he was buried to the hilt and slowed his breathing he began to move. Damon buried his face between her neck and shoulder thrusting forward. Bonnie met Damon thrust for thrust, scratching her nails down his back successful in causing welts to spring up that instantly healed.

The slopping and suction sounds of him pounding into her and Bonnie receiving each blow filled the air. Damon slapped one palm on the floor to hold himself steady while the other held on tightly to Bonnie's hip.

They stared at each other. So many unexpected emotions ran through him Damon wasn't sure what would be appropriate to say in a moment like this. He had fantasized about this moment. Had wet dreams about this moment. And it was by far surpassing all of his expectations. She was just so tight, so wet, so _right_ that his entire body felt like it was going up in flames. He checked just to make sure he literally wasn't on fire.

Damon flipped them over never breaking stride. Bonnie kept up grounding her bottom into him at the same time Damon piston upward. She undulate her hips in a figure eight, something she may have learned to do while watching HBO after dark. Whatever it was supposed to do for the guy apparently it was working because Damon lost his eyeballs to the back of his head.

She took hold of his hands entwining their fingers together as she took control and directed the speed of this dance.

If she kept his up he was going to come in a minute. Using his vampire speed, Damon was up and on his feet with Bonnie still bouncing on his dick. She gasped when her back made contact with the door to her room.

Damon adjusted their position so he held Bonnie under the knees, spreading her legs farther apart as he continued to pump into her.

Bonnie wrapped her arms around his neck. "Don't stop. Don't stop. Don't stop," tumbled from her lips.

Stop? Damon was incredulous. Why on God's green earth would he ever stop this?!

A minute later Bonnie found herself on all fours on her bed as he rode her from the back.

"Do you like that?" he asked huskily.

"Hummm yeeahhh!" she replied.

"What about this?" He licked two fingers and began to play with her clit. Bonnie tensed while her pants increased.

Sweat collected in the middle of her back and she screamed, squealed, and cursed as Damon showed her absolutely no mercy.

"I'm about to come," she hiccupped as her arms went limp and she fell completely flat on the bed. She balled the comforter in her fists to find some kind of purchase.

Damon increased his thrusts feeling his own end, but he wanted to see Bonnie's cum face, needed to see it so he could bank it into his memory as: this is the face she makes when she's completely satisfied.

He pulled out which was a gargantuan effort on his part, turned Bonnie until she was missionary again, and inch-by-inch sunk back into her warmth.

She moaned and tunneled her fingers in his midnight hair as a tear escaped her eye. Damon pecked her lips and felt her inner walls contracting against him. She was close.

He snaked a hand between them and pinched her pearl.

"DAMON!" Bonnie screamed and the fire that was dancing in the hearth flared until he was afraid it might set him on fire. She wrapped her arms around him as Damon did the same hugging and humping until finally she burst apart, her inner walls clamping down on Damon. Electric shock coursed through her womb.

Feeling her body jerk against him caused Damon to follow suit as he shot his load into Bonnie. "_Fuck."_

His back was arched like a bow, as the veins in his neck protruded. He stuttered unable to articulate a single word as he busted the second biggest nut of his life.

Mimi-eruptions took place within Bonnie's core which made Damon jerk as he felt her tighten around his still pulsating phallus. He should have been limp like a wet noodle, but he was still surprisingly hard or more to the matter getting hard again. Wet as a puddle coupled by the fact a fine sheen of sweat covered her body, Damon strummed to full erection within seconds.

He lied on top of Bonnie, crushing her breasts against his chest. He placed butterfly kisses to her neck and cheek. He didn't want to slide out of her warmth and Bonnie didn't appear to be in any rush to disengage their bodies.

"How do you feel?" he asked staring into her eyes, brushing her damp hair off her forehead and cheek.

"Good. I feel good," she said breathlessly. "Great. I feel great. Perfect. Everything's perfect."

He chuckled. "You were worth waiting for, Bonnie."

Tears danced in her eyes. "So were you, Damon," she traced his lips with her thumb. She smiled until all her teeth were showing and sighed relishing in the fact they were still connected.

Her words touched him in a foreign place.

Looking Bonnie over, Damon had seen her dressed to the nines, casual, had been a witness to her being dirty and bloodied (one of those times being his fault), but he had never seen Bonnie like this. Glowing and flushed with a rosy hue, hair untamed, and…some emotion in her eyes that no one had ever graced him with. That sparked gooseflesh to ripple over his skin as he gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing. Was it love shining in her eyes or just deep satisfaction? He was too scared to ask, and didn't want to ruin the moment because it might lead to disappointment.

Slowly, Damon began to move his hips back and forth. "You ready for more?"

She nodded and lifted her hips. "I don't think I could ever get enough of you."

"The feeling is mutual, Bennett. My thirst for you is far from being sated."

Chapter end.

**A/N: I can't tell you the number of times I had to stop while re-reading and editing the last part of this chapter. Bonnie is a lucky girl, Damon is a lucky bastard, and there you have it. I will be picking up where we left off with the hunter's arc. I figured it's time for Connor and several other inhabitants of MF showed their faces again. In re-writing this now I can understand why the writers make certain characters get missing for several episodes at a time, although I think their departure is always ill-timed. *coughs* Bonnie/Tyler/Jeremy/Matt. But if I tried to input everyone's POV my chapters would be 30-40 pages long, and they are already long enough as is. I know some were interested in hearing Caroline and Elena's take on Bamon's relationship. It's coming, I promise. I haven't forgotten about them or anyone else, but again my primary focus/concern is Bamon. Hoped you guys enjoyed this. Thank you for reading! Love you!**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Once again, thank you so much for the reviews and the continued support of this story! Enjoy the latest.**

Disclaimer: These characters are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Watching him sleep was **becoming a favorite pastime of hers. There were few instances Bonnie recalled Damon looking so at peace. In fact, she couldn't remember a time that he looked as carefree and at ease than he looked right now. Then again he was sleeping. There was a slight flush to his skin compliments of their rigorous lovemaking.

She blushed. Lovemaking? It sounded so…grown up! And Damon was the least mature person she knew outside of the times they came up with plans to get a step ahead of their enemies. There was making love, there was sex, and there was fucking. Over the course of the night they dabbled in all three. Sometimes individually and sometimes in a carnal master mix.

Running her fingers very lightly over his cheek since the other was buried in the pillow, Bonnie marveled at their complexions. Mocha over vanilla. Damon had poured his vanilla over her so many times she lost count while she melted her mocha over him. Repeatedly.

Her fingers grew an inquisitive mind of their own, contouring to his chin, sliding down his neck, tracing his Adam's apple, then his clavicle, over his pectoral where she circled his areola and watched as it pebbled against her touch. Damon grumbled something which gave Bonnie pause as her eyes flew to his face to make sure he was still sleeping.

He was still out.

Lower her fingers traveled drawing a mental map. As if she would ever forget a single detail of Damon's posterior and anterior. Her fingers bumped along his abdominals, looped around his navel, and then headed west to that "V" indentation where his waist met his hips.

Using only her index finger, slowly she dragged her digit along that line of sculpted flesh where it arrived at his leaning Tower of Pisa.

Biting down hard on her bottom lip as she took Damon's hardening member in her hand, she stroked him a few times. Being with him felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest. And it was a weight that had been bearing down and crushing her long before she slipped into a magical coma. Back then, Bonnie constantly told herself she wanted nothing to do with Damon Salvatore, yet every time she turned around she found herself holding counsel with him, and then relying on him to make sure a plan saw the light of success.

She didn't want to need him, but she did. While she struggled with learning magic, Bonnie had used his surly and suspicious attitude towards her as motivation. He had been her advisor without knowing it, and hell she didn't know it either at the time. Damon made her stronger only because she wanted to prove him wrong. He didn't know her and he didn't know what she was capable of, but he liked to pretend he knew exactly who she was, and throw that information back in her face.

Somewhere along the way he began to rely on her just as much as she relied on him. And now look at where they were.

In her bed. Naked. And in…

He was up.

Damon's hand snapped out, lightning fast and caught her wrist. Bonnie locked eyes with Damon and watched as his pupil shrank in diameter the second they made contact with hers.

"Trying to start the party without me?" he chastised.

"No… I was just sending you the invitation," she whispered sultrily.

They rolled in bed until he was on top of her, enveloping her with his weight. Heat spiked through Bonnie. Her womb became flushed and coated instantly, and with the simple lift of his hips, Damon speared himself deep within her hot pussy. He kissed Bonnie until her lips were swollen, and when he pulled away to look her right in the eyes, he thrust forward sending tendrils of pleasure through her waking up her sleeping nerves.

She hissed, adjusted her hips so he could go just a little deeper, and wrapped her legs around his lower back.

Moving her hips in accordance with his thrust, Bonnie searched for Damon's mouth and returned the favor to his lips, leaving him heaving for breath.

"Good morning," he panted against her ear and groaned. God, she felt so _good_.

"Good," sigh, "morning," shriek, Bonnie replied.

They were done talking and focused the rest of their attention on making this the hottest and sweetest sex of their lives. Damon leaned up to rest on his knees as he took Bonnie's legs and placed them over his shoulders. Folding his body in plank formation he pounded into her until her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and everything that came out of her mouth was incoherent gibberish.

His balls felt hot and heavy and he knew what that signified. He wasn't going to stop until Bonnie got hers, and the second she made _that _face, he smiled and then grunted as her nails bit deep into his back, deep enough to draw blood. With her inner walls clamping down and fluttering in heavy contractions, Damon quickly followed suit, emptying out his load into hot spurts of cum. He gasped hollowly as if he had been submerged underwater and was rescued.

He pulled out slowly before collapsing next to Bonnie who extended and flexed her fingers, curled and uncurled her toes still experiencing mini-eruptions taking place within her tight sheath.

Bonnie whipped her head to look at him. Damon was wearing the goofiest grin on his face. Without question he pulled her into her arms and kissed her head.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to leave this bed," Bonnie remarked.

"Then that makes two of us. You truly are a sorcerer," Damon chortled. "I can't remember my name or any other time I felt this…this…like I could float my happy ass to the moon."

Bonnie laughed. "You've never felt like that before?"

Damon thought he had. Plenty of times but things never did live up to his expectations. Then he sort of got used to being stuck with mediocrity.

"No," he finally replied.

Bonnie looked pensive for a second. "But you are happy? I make you happy?"

Her question earned her a quizzical look from Damon. "If that isn't a dumb question. Of course you make me happy. Bonnie have you _ever_ seen me smile this early in the morning?"

"Well, no but it wasn't like we saw each other during these hours in the past."

"Hmm," she had a point. "For two years I thought happiness meant taking whatever breadcrumbs were dumped my way, and turning it into a meal. But now I know better. Everyone else before you…nothing but appetizers, while you, my sweet," he brushed her cheek, "are a seven course meal fit for royalty. I mean, you do have the most succulent pussy I've ever eaten."

"Damon!" Bonnie blushed profusely.

He smirked. "I'm only speaking the truth, Bon. Now it's your turn to tell me how great I am," he folded his arms behind his head and wiggled his eyebrows.

Bonnie rolled her eyes but then rested her chin on his peck. "I don't have anything to compare you to. And even if I did…there'd be no comparison to make. You see me, and that's all I ever wanted. We see each other because we're the same. You're fearless, and reckless, but I know your heart is in the right place—most of the time," she amended. "And that's exactly why I want you in my life."

There was that weird feeling again that raced from his stomach, then up the back of his neck before it was detoured to his heart. She was saying something without having to say it. Damon pulled Bonnie next to him again so he wouldn't have to see that telling look in her eyes, terrified they might be reflected in his orbs as well.

In addition to that, he didn't want her to see the fear that was taking root in him. Damon wanted to live in denial a little longer, but when Bonnie delivered speeches like that it was making him face a glaringly obvious truth.

Instead, he allowed the warmth of her body to distract him. Her breathing changed. She was already fading, and funny enough his eyelids felt just as heavy.

BBDBDBDBD

**Damon woke up **at an odd angle. His right arm was being used as a pillow but not by his head, while his head had been arched back and tilted to the side. As he slowly regained consciouness he realized why his body felt as stiff as a board. He and Bonnie had fallen asleep on the floor after waking up again to do it.

Gray smoke billowed from the fireplace as the scent of sex was heavy in the air. Looking down at the body curled next to him a smirk formed on his face. His little sex kitten had been insatiable. No matter how many orgasms he had given her, Bonnie only demanded more. Damon prided himself on having a high libido and there weren't many who could go as long as he could, or recovered quickly between rounds, but he might have just met his match in Bonnie.

Shifting into a sitting position he stared down at her. She was covered with a throw blanket that had been retrieved from her closet at some point during the night. A crease formed between his brows when he noticed a few discoloration spots on her arms. Had he, had he done that to her?

Damon pulled the blanket off Bonnie and saw his fingerprints on various places on her body, mostly around her hips and upper thighs, the places where he held her the tightest. Gulping, Damon reached under her legs and shoulders, picked her up, and deposited her on the bed.

He blinked his eyes to clear his vision and to inspect the unintended damage he did to her flawless skin. In a few days her flesh should be back to normal. She would feel the pain of his embrace once she woke up, that was for sure, and hopefully she wouldn't be too mad at him for what he did.

His examination came to an abrupt end when his cell phone began to vibrate. Damon covered Bonnie with the blanket who rolled on her side, still in a deep slumber as she snuggled on the bed. Retriveing the unit, he sighed deeply at seeing who the caller was.

"Liz what's up?"

"Sorry to bother you so early, but there's been another murder."

Damon pinched the bridge of his nose. "Who got capped?"

Liz paused clearly not liking his use of vernacular. "Carly Lawson. She's a teacher at Mystic Falls High. She was found this morning in the main office."

"How did she die?"

"She was drained of blood."

His lethagy was gone now and Damon was wide awake. "You saying a vampire killed her?"

"What I'm saying is that she was drained of blood but it doesn't appear to be a vampire attack. We found the murder weapon. She was stabbed twice in the jugular with an ice pick."

Damon cursed and then redirected his eyes to Bonnie. She was still asleep.

"Do you need me to come down?"

"Actually there's something else you should know. We made an arrest."

Relief flooded Damon. Finally this nightmare could end and he could get on with his life and attempt to make some babies with Bonnie, or more to the matter engage in the act to make babies.

"Well then that's fantastic."

There was a deafening, incriminating silence coming from the other end of the line so palpable that Damon just knew the rest of his day was going to suck once he heard what else Liz had to say.

"Liz…who did you arrest?"

"Alaric."

"WHAT?!"

Bonnie moaned and slowly woke up. She rubbed the sleep out of her eye and spotted Damon standing in his birthday suit with his cell phone pressed to his ear.

"What's going on?" she asked sleepily.

Damon spun around and faced her. He shook his head. "I'm coming down to the station, Liz."

"Damon…"

"I don't want to hear any objections about this, Liz. You all must have gotten into some catnip if you think Alaric had anything to do with this. He's not a killer."

Bonnie having heard the tail end of Damon's spiel was fully awake now. Alaric had been arressted? Why? And for what?

"I know he's your friend but we have evidence to support our case. You can come down to the station all you want, but he's not going anywhere."

"We'll see about that," Damon intoned.

"His bail has been set at five hundred thousand dollars," Liz informed him.

Damon's jaw hit the floor. "You people are insane!"

"And he's our only lead and suspect. So unless you can provide strong evidence to the contrary and you don't mind shelling out half a million dollars to bust your boy out of jail, this conversation is over. I just thought you should know. As a courtsey."

Damon snorted. "Hey, Liz don't do me any favors. I'll see your ass in twenty minutes." He hung up his phone, his blue eyes had turned silver like lightning.

"What's this about Alaric being arrested?" Bonnie questioned and wrapped the blanket around her chest. This certainly wasn't how she envisioned her morning after with Damon.

He sat down next to her on the bed. "Apparently a teacher at your school was killed and they arrested Alaric. I hate to leave you all disheveled and smelling like sex but I gotta find out what's going on."

Bonnie nodded her head. "No, you go and do what you have to."

Damon opened his mouth to respond, but then Bonnie's cell phone began to ring. He retrieved it from their pile of discarded clothes and handed it over to her.

"Hey, Care… there's no school? It is terrible what happened to Ms. Lawson. I'm not at the boardinghouse right now, but since school has been cancelled do you want to meet up? Okay. Call me when you're done with your errand."

Things were silent again as the two lovers stared at one another. "This wasn't what I had in mind last night when I said I was going to rock your world," he admitted sheepishly and cupped her cheek.

Bonnie nuzzled into his touch. "I guess our reprieve is over and its back to saving the world."

Damon knew in his gut Ric wasn't the one responsible and that the killer was still at large. And his gut instincts never led him astray before. That being said he didn't want to leave Bonnie unprotected despite the fact he knew she could take care of herself. As much as he hated what he was about to suggest, he'd feel a whole heck of a lot better if he knew there was someone around who was almost as tough as he was to watch her back.

"Don't say anything to Elena and Jeremy about Alaric until we know more, all right?"

Bonnie was hesitant to agree, but nodded.

"Call Stefan and have him come pick you up. I don't want you alone. Alaric didn't do this. He wouldn't attack a human unprovoked and even then I don't think he has it in him to take human life."

Bonnie rose from the bed, dropping the blanket. Damon couldn't take his eyes off her naked form to save his life.

"I don't need a baby sitter, Damon."

He got up from the bed and followed her into the bathroom. "I know that but it'll make me feel better if I know you're not alone. Just do this one thing for me, Bon."

She studied him in the mirror's reflection as she reached for her toothbrush. The last thing she wanted or needed was for Damon to go into overbearing, overprotective mode. She watched as he did it with Elena when everyone was scrambling to keep her away from Klaus. There was no way in the world she was going to go under house arrest, and far as Bonnie was concerned, she was in no immediate danger. There were killers all over the place, hell the man she loved who was presently standing behind her was a killer.

Love? Oh, boy, Bonnie scrambled to recover her prior train of thought.

Bonnie dropped her eyes to her body and saw the bruises that marred her skin. Damon watched her as she took an inventory of all of his individual fingerprints and winced.

"I'm sorry about that," he kissed the back of her head, and rubbed her shoulders contritely.

Bonnie scrubbed her teeth. Now she really felt marked.

"I'll try not to use too much pressure in the future."

She rinsed her mouth and shook her head. "I don't mind," she said now that her breath was minty fresh. "I mean, I mind, but it's not the end of the world. And I don't remember complianing much."

A salacious grin overtook Damon's face as he wrapped his arms around her belly. "To me you complained a great deal."

She frowned at him. "What do you mean I complained a great deal? When?"

Damon pulled her flush against him and she moaned at feeling his hardness pressing between the crack of her ass. He spoke right into her ear canal. "Harder, Damon I'm not feeling anything. You aren't going deep enough. You're not using enough tongue. Fuck me faster damnit."

Bonnie's cheeks colored over and she all of a sudden grew interested in staring at her feet. She had no idea what had come over her last night and early this morning. It was like a nymphomanic hijacked her body and used her as some type of vessel where nothing her boyfriend did was satisfactory.

Damon rested his chin on her shoulder and slowly slid his hands up until his thumbs brushed the underside of her breasts.

"I should be making my way over to demand the release of my brother from another mother, but I can't stop my dick from getting hard at the prospect of making you cum one more time."

Bonnie cleared her throat and annoyingly felt herself responding to his words and ministrations. She was getting wet. She turned in his arms and stared up at him.

"A quickie. They were invented for a reason."

Damon took her by the hands and pulled her to the shower. "I like the way you think and here we can kill two birds with one stone."

Bonnie squealed when Damon picked her up to straddle his lean hips as he entered the shower.

**The sound of feet** thundering down the steps caught Elena's attention while she cleaned up the kitchen. Normally around this time she would be sitting in French III bored out of her pretty little mind, but something terrible happened late last night or early this morning. A teacher was dead, murdered at Mystic Falls High. As a result, school was cancelled while police investigated. Hearing the news of another person losing their life senselessly would have given reason to pause, but having been surrounded by death for the last two years, it no longer had the same chilling effect on Elena.

She was probably jaded. But then Elena wondered if the recent murder might have any connection with Caroline and Damon being shot. The dots were there, they just needed to be connected.

In any case, Elena would take full advantage of not sitting through seven hours of lessons where she would have spent eighty percent of that time daydreaming.

Well, for the last few days, Elena had been unable to stop thinking about the fact Bonnie and Damon were now together. When she saw them kissing she thought for a moment she was watching a really bad movie or maybe she was hallucinating. However, as she looked around and noticed Caroline and Jeremy's shocked and outraged faces, it became horrifyingly clear that what she was witnessing was in fact real.

Elena really had no idea how or when those two had taken their relationship from reluctant allies to boyfriend/girlfriend status. Bonnie hadn't been out of her four-month coma for two months and already she had swapped spit with Damon. The young witch wasn't the sort of girl to go around kissing guys just to try it, and Elena was well versed on the kind of man Damon was. It was just baffling.

In reality, the brunette doppelganger knew she should be happy for her best friend and Damon. She should be happy that Damon found someone who could handle his personality and love him for him. She should be happy that Bonnie was able to put aside her bias for all things fang, and found love as a result of it. That would be the right way to feel about the situation.

Admittedly that's not how she felt at all. And this made her feel like a terrible person and a horrible friend.

Turning on the sink to start the dishes, Elena blew out a breath. Did she still want Damon to have a thing for her, carry a torch for her? It's unfortunately what she had gotten used to. Him always flitting around, in her face, trying to prove he was better capable of protecting her, of loving her. Elena had gotten used to his attention, and the more she grew accustomed to it, the more her feelings of compassion for Damon evolved into…

Had she fallen completely and irrevocably in love with Damon? Not exactly. She loved him. But she wouldn't say her feelings for him overpowered what she felt for Stefan.

Jeremy stomped his way into the kitchen to raid the refrigerator. "What are you getting into today?" he inquired of his older sister.

Elena hunched a shoulder. "I'll probably hang out at Caroline's. What are you about to do?"

Jeremy didn't answer until he finished chugging milk straight from the carton. Elena scowled. "I'm meeting up with Alexsander."

"Can I tag along?" Elena batted her eyelashes.

"Hell no," Jeremy grimaced. "Go raid the mall, braid some hair, or whatever it is you and Caroline do when you're together." Pause. "Is Bonnie going to join you?"

"I don't know. I haven't talked her in a couple of days." Elena glanced at Jeremy. His face was impassive but she could see the fury clouding his eyes. "Are we going to talk about the fact she and Damon seem to have a thing now?"

"Do _you_ want to talk about that?" Jeremy challenged and stuffed the milk back in the fridge. He started towards the living room, but stopped. "It's weird, right? I mean…Bonnie never made it a secret she didn't like Damon and he certainly didn't pass up the opportunity to show his indifference, and now…they're like dating or whatever. Maybe you should talk to her."

"And say what?" Elena pulled a glass out of the sudsy water and rinsed it off. "That I don't approve of her and Damon being together?"

"Well you don't, right?"

"I'm staying out of it."

"Seriously, Elena you can't believe that Damon has real feelings for Bonnie?"

Moving her shoulders in a restless motion, Elena wasn't sure what to think. Bonnie lived at the boardinghouse full time now, and things happened. One minute you're at someone's throat and the next…

You're kissing them like there's no tomorrow.

Elena turned away from the dishes to face her brother. "It's their business, Jeremy. I…had my shot with Damon and I chose to walk away. You had your little ghostly reunion with Anna while Bonnie was in a coma…"

Jeremy couldn't maintain eye contact with Elena. He looked away guiltily.

"Bonnie and Damon are gone and they're together now. We're going to have to accept it."

The younger Gilbert snorted derisively. "You might be willing to accept it, but not me. She's just confused." The door bell chose that moment to ring. "That's Alex so I'm gonna take off. See you later."

Going back to washing the dishes, Elena shook her head. She really wanted to tell her brother that Bonnie wasn't the type to get confused, and he would soon find himself fighting an uphill battle—alone.

**Caroline Forbes rolled her **car to a stop but let the engine continue to idle. She had caught a break and was able to escape her mom's ever watchful eye since she had been gunned down without explanation. Well, an explanation had been given but she was the only one privy to it. Her mom had been called away because a teacher was killed, which meant she could leave the house without being tracked or interrogated.

Gulping nervously, Caroline kept her baby blues on the bald black man who was leaned against an early model pickup truck, legs crossed at the ankles. From this distance he looked harmless and unassuming but she knew better. There was a dangerous vibe emitting from the man and she didn't need to exit her vehicle to feel it.

When she hesitated longer than his liking he snapped his head in her direction—dark bedroom eyes narrowing.

Cutting the engine, Caroline's thumb hovered over the apps on her cell phone which she kept out of sight. She had been told to come alone. She figured she might be searched so she'd have no choice but to leave her cell behind which meant she wouldn't be able to record this conversation.

"Get out of the car!" came the brusque command.

Unintentionally she jumped and then stiffened her spine. She was a weapon of mass destruction, and the guy standing some twenty feet away was human.

Nevertheless, Caroline climbed out of her car and then trekked to the stranger. Every muscle in her body was taut and the blond immortal looked around trying to find a landmark or some point of reference so she'd be able to come back to this spot at a later date. Unfortunately she saw nothing but trees, pine needles and cones, and the occasional bush.

When she was less than five feet away, Caroline stopped as the barrel of a gun filled her line of sight. Instantly she raised her hands in the air.

"Did you come alone like I said?"

She nodded.

"Answer me out loud," he demanded and cocked the gun into the ready position. "I'm in no mood to go to jail or die today."

"I came alone. I swear," Caroline was proud her voice didn't crack despite her throat being dry.

Connor approached Caroline, gun still aimed for her head. The second he reached her, he spun her around and quickly and methodically patted her down. Finding no weapons or a wire he stepped back.

"Turn around," he ordered. Caroline did so. "I have three questions for you, Caroline. How many other vampires can walk in the sun?"

Caroline worried her bottom lip fully prepared to lie. Yet the threatening look in Connor's eyes killed that notion. "Including myself...seven."

"How many hybrids are in town?"

"I don't know exactly."

"Then give me an estimate."

"Ten, fifteen somewhere around there."

"Do you know if there are any other hunters in town?"

Caroline shrugged. "I wouldn't know. Can I ask a question of my own? Why are you doing this? I mean…it's obvious _you're_ a hunter but not every vampire is bad."

"Not every vampire is good," Connor rebutted. "You want a gold star because everyone you've killed fits on one hand? I meant what I said, Caroline. You help me and I won't report your mom to the powers that be that she, the mayor, and the council of twelve Mystic Falls' citizens have been covering up murders for the last two years. You want to know what the prison sentence is for conspiracy, obstruction of justice, witness and evidence tampering…twenty-five to life. Is that what you want for your mother? Convicts love it when dirty cops end up behind bars."

Caroline said nothing although her chin did quiver.

Seeing he had thoroughly scared the young vampire, Connor took a step closer. "Here's what you're going to do."

**If they knew what was best **for them they would get the hell out of his way. Those loitering inside the police station parted as if he were Moses and they were the Red Sea. A look of determination was etched on his face like stone.

Damon held up his middle finger while he stomped past the circulation desk and continued walking despite protests from the uniformed deputy who was demanding he sign his name on the sign-in sheet. He didn't come to a stop until he loomed outside of Liz's office who was on the phone.

Damon banged on her door with enough force to crack the glass. The head sheriff jumped in her seat and gasped loudly. She narrowed her eyes on Damon who returned the gesture only Liz felt her heart literally freeze in her chest.

"I'm going to have to call you back," she hung up the phone and rose from her chair. "Like I told you over the phone, Damon, unless you have the five hundred thousand dollar bond…"

Damon held up a hand to silence her like he was an emperor. "Blow me. I want to see him, _Elizabeth_."

Hearing her full name being used, it didn't take much for Liz to see that Damon was royally pissed.

However, she didn't bow or jump simply because he said. This was _her _house and he had better remember that.

"Visiting hours are from noon to five. You can come back then," she said icily.

"You must not have heard me correctly. You're going to go take me to see Ric right now or I kill the next person who walks by." Damon looked down the hallway and saw that it was one of Liz's favorite deputies.

"George," Damon brightened. The deputy recognized Damon and offered up a friendly smile. When he was close the two men shook hands, but then Damon quickly shifted George until his back was to his front and he wrapped his arm tightly under the deputy's neck who began to claw viciously at Damon's arm.

Liz cursed and reached for her side arm. "Let him go!"

"Take me to see Ric and I will."

She didn't negoitate with terrorists and she hadn't planned on starting now, but George's movements were slowing down and he was beginning to turn blue in the face.

"Damnit let him go, Damon. I'll take you. Just let him go."

Damon immediately released his hold on George who dropped to his knees, reached for his aching neck, and began wheezing and coughly uncontrollably.

Liz rounded her desk and was fully prepared to offer George some help when Damon wagged his finger, that dangerous psychotic gleam twinkling in his eye.

"There's no time to offer him a fresh pair of underwear, Liz," Damon snorted and twisted his nose in digust. The deputy had lost control of his bowels just that quickly. "Let me make this real elementary for you. You take me to Alaric now," which he followed it up with faux sign language hand movements. "Did that work?"

"You don't have to be such an asshole," Liz bit out as she squeezed out of her office and made her way to the stairwell.

Damon followed after her. "Apparently I do because otherwise shit would not get done. See how quickly you responded when you thought I was going to waste ole Georgey boy back there," he smiled.

"You're a lunatic."

"I get it from my mother's side."

Liz sucked her teeth. They were now down on the lower levels of the jailhouse where they had the old fashioned jail cells. They still had stone walls for crying out loud.

Alaric got to his feet when he heard two distinct voices bickering back and forth. "Damon, what are you doing here?"

"To ask where you think you're going to spend eternity," he snorted derisively. "Why do you think I'm here?"

"I didn't kill Carly," he directed his gaze to Liz who looked conflicted like she wanted to believe him but the evidence could not exonerate him. "You know I would never kill an innocent person, Liz."

"It doesn't matter what I think, Alaric," she said unsympathetically. "That's for the courts to decide. But there are just too many holes in your story, Ric, and your shirt we collected that had what appeared to be blood stains on it is being sent to a lab for testing."

"What happened?" Damon folded his arms over his chest.

"The only reason I'm being implicated is because I got into an argument with Carly yesterday. Just because I argue with someone doesn't mean I'm going to turn around and stab that person to death."

"How do you know she was stabbed?" Liz asked. "The cause of death was never mentioned during your arrest."

Alaric blinked. "And? It's an easy assumption to make she would have been stabbed or shot like the other victims."

After hearing that noticable slip, Damon couldn't help but side-eye Ric but for only a tenth of a second. Who knows? Maybe Carly Lawson took his parking space or didn't change the filter in the coffee machine after Ric asked her to do for the millionth time, or she stole his chalk. In any case, he would stand by his friend no matter what.

"Not only that but witnesses said they saw you get into a slight confrontation with Meredith Fell's ex the night of the Wickery Bridge fundraiser the night before he was killed."

Alaric rolled his eyes. "Yeah so I go all Buffy on the guy to defend her honor?" he rose an incredulous eyebrow in the air. "That happened months ago," the imprisioned teacher reminded the cop.

Liz pursed her lips hating to remind him of this death that was still very much sore. "Not to mention my ex-husband. Meredith confided in you that Bill threatened to have her medical license revoked because she used vampire blood to heal his wounds."

Ric could do nothing but tap his fingers against the bars. "So I'm just knocking off people left from right to protect Meredith? Unless she was having a lesbian affair with Carly that ended badly and she threatened to post their affair on the PTA board, why would I kill her?"

This was better than daytime television, Damon thought having to suppress his chuckles several times.

"And lets not forget this, Liz, I was attacked!"

"Which the wounds could have been self inflicted to divert suspicion."

Alaric tossed his hands in the air. This was like talking to a deaf person who was facing a brick wall.

Just then yet another person joined the welcoming committee. Damon's eyes went heavenward when he noticed it was Agent Danvers.

"And here is everyone I've been looking for," she smiled brightly despite the delicate situation.

Damon looked her up and down derisively whereas Liz drew on her professionalism. She didn't like outsides encroaching on her turf anymore than Damon did. And it felt like a slight from Carol Lockwood to go behind her back to ask for outside help with her case. Liz knew she was a good sheriff and a good detective. Given a few more weeks and much better resources she would have cracked the case.

"I'm sorry we have to meet again under such circumstances," stated the agent.

"Save the speech, honey," Damon bit out. "You nailed the wrong guy and when I prove that you did, you can kiss your little career goodbye."

Sara quirked her blonde head at Damon regarding him with a shrewd eye. "I'm sure you believe your name has clout but only here is it applicable. Do what pleases you but remember this, my superiors will back me because my work is without flaw."

"Hmm, we'll see. What's done in the dark and behind closed doors always comes to light," Damon replied omniously and began heading for the exit. He hated dungeons and that's exactly what this dismal place resembled.

He may have walked twenty paces away when he sensed he was being followed. It came as no surprise to him that it was the agent trying to melt his veneer with her cobalt blue eyes, full lips, and crown of blonde hair.

He wasn't impressed. "What do you want?"

"Only to say that my investigation is far from being closed. Alaric Saltzman is your friend but what do you _really_ know about him? Did you know he has a record, even had a restraining order placed on him by his now late wife? Talk about your bad romance. So if I were you I'd think twice about endorsing someone's innocence when you don't have all the facts about their past in order."

Damon said nothing to this, merely soaked it all in and watched as the leggy agent made her way to back over to Liz and company. Needless to say he had a lot of thinking to do.

**Bonnie dried her hands **after washing them and then did a preliminary check to make sure her lip gloss was still perfect, and not a hair was out of place. Satisfied that everything was in order, she exited the bathroom and then ran into a hard, muscled chest. Staring up at the person she nearly barreled over, apology on the tip of her tongue, Bonnie swallowed her words.

Laughing brown eyes greeted her. "You should be more careful, darling."

Exhaling sharply, Bonnie was more than prepared to side-step Kol, and when she tried to take a step to her left, Kol blocked her path. She stared up at him annoyed and then tried to move right to no avail.

"All right, you've reached your quota in getting on my nerves today," Bonnie huffed. "Can you move please?"

"I believe you can ask me more nicely than that. I've been nothing but accommodating to you, Bonnie and other than my parentage—which I can't be blamed for—and having meddling siblings, what's not to like about me?"

"I suppose nothing, but you're holding me up, and I'm not getting any younger so I suggest you move."

Kol had to admit that if she wasn't who she was he probably would have snapped her neck for shits and giggles. He liked feisty women to a certain degree, but there was a limit on how much disrespect he would allow a mere mortal, even if the mortal was gifted, he would tolerate. He wasn't Elijah and he was light years away from being as horrid as Klaus, his patience didn't run as deep as a well.

Besides it had been weeks since the last time he had been in her company, and he was never one to pass up an opportunity to ruffle her feathers which was so easy to do.

"I heard your new beau was shot the other day as well as your friend Caroline. I'm sorry they're both still alive."

Bonnie's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't happen to know who was behind it would you? You seem like the kind of guy who knows things other people don't."

Her words were met with a warm, dashing smile. "So you've been studying me. I consider it a compliment," Kol sighed. "I'm afraid I don't know who was behind Damon and Caroline getting shot. Whoever it is, is merely toying around." Kol closed what space was left between himself and Bonnie. She hitched her chin a fraction higher in the air. "We can work together on this, Bonnie. Pool our resources. Remember…the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"I have enough friends, Kol."

"Come now, lass. I'm not nearly as detestable as you think I am."

"No thanks," Bonnie reiterated, her voice elevating slightly.

"Is there a problem?" a deep voice disrupted this fellowship service.

Both Kol and Bonnie directed their attention to the man standing on the other end of the hall. Bonnie immediately recognized him as the man who had been waiting in Alaric's classroom. She was overcome with instant suspicion. Newcomers only had one fate when they picked a bone with the wrong person in this town, and Bonnie hated to be a witness to anything. She had magic but she wasn't sure if it would be enough to stop Kol if he got it into his head he wanted to wax the floor with this guy's blood. What was his name again, by the way?

"There is no problem and I suggest you move along and carry out your business," Kol replied and moved until he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Bonnie. There was something about the man that was raising his hackles and not in the good and tingly way. But as in one predator identifying another predator way.

The tension cackled in the air and tightened around Bonnie's throat. So much for making it to back to her table where she had been waiting for Caroline and Elena.

The man held out a hand towards Kol who merely studied it disinterestedly. "I'm Connor."

"Good for you," Kol said dismissively before returning his gaze to Bonnie who looked as if she were spoiling for a fight. "Well it looks like you've gotten your wish. Until we meet again, Miss Bennett," Kol began to head down the hallway, but then he stopped and turned around. "Oh and have you given any thought to my brother's invitation to dine with us? We would love to have you for supper," his grin was wolfish.

Bonnie shook her head ruefully at Kol's double-meaning. She looked at Connor out of her peripheral vision and noticed that his hand had slipped to his side as if ready to pull out a firearm only there was no gun holster strapped to his waist.

"Who was that?" Connor asked in a no-nonsense don't even _think _about lying to me voice.

Bonnie's eyebrows rose—contemplating. "Someone you should stay far away from."

The man approached and Bonnie stood her ground. "He doesn't look like he's all that dangerous."

"You know what they say, appearances can be deceiving."

Connor raked his eyes over Bonnie. If the Intel he had on her was true it would make that statement even more factual.

"Bonnie?"

What was it about this hallway the young witch wondered as her eyes drifted and crashed into Alex—Nero.

Connor swung his gaze in the boy's direction. He had seen him playing pool with Jeremy Gilbert a couple of times since coming to Mystic Falls. Connor hadn't forgotten the small detail of Jeremy being able to see his tattoo knowing that no one else had that ability. He had called his superiors to inquire what that meant and was told that Jeremy Gilbert was a Potential. A potential hunter, that is. However, potential hunters only cropped up when an experienced hunter was about to check out.

That didn't make Connor feel all warm and gushy inside, but he knew this lifestyle didn't have a long shelf life and it would only be a matter of time before he met his end. Until then, he was duty bound to take as many vampires with him. In five days, he was going to put Mystic Falls on the map, and not in a tourist attraction kind of way.

"Hey, Aleksander," Bonnie remembered to use his alias and tried not to sound too relieved at seeing him.

Nero stood proud and tall as he eyed the man standing too close to Bonnie before looking at the young woman herself. He hadn't had much contact with her since he came clean about his real identity, and she told him that he may have descended from a family of hunters. Against his better judgment he hung out with Jeremy Gilbert because honestly, he was the only person he trusted since he had been honest and forthcoming with the truth about his new, temporary home. Yet as he stood there counting the seconds down until the man caught a hint and made his departure, there was that feeling deep within him to protect Bonnie.

This was plain ludicrous and plenty of times Nero asked himself if he had a crush on her. Bonnie was stunning for only being eighteen years old. But only having a mild attraction to her looks, he knew next to nothing about her—save her being a witch—to cause the kind of reaction that was taking place within him. Already his heart was quickening and his hand unconsciously balled into a tight fist.

Connor saw this and felt himself getting ready to operate on the offensive.

Bonnie slithered past Connor and grabbed Nero by the sleeve of his shirt, and pulled him away. The second they exited the corridor that led to the bathrooms, someone finally released the oxygen and Bonnie was able to breathe again.

"Are you all right?" Nero questioned in his heavily accented voice.

Bonnie nodded her head. "I'm fine," she fixed her eyes on his ruggedly handsome face and looked into those eyes which were the same shade of green as hers. "How have you been? It's been a while since we talked."

"I'm still trying to process everything." Pause. "Did you know that guy back there?" Nero wanted to add he didn't like the way he had been staring at her, but that would have been presumptuous.

Shaking her head, Bonnie said, "I don't know him but there's something off about him."

Nero nodded his ascent. "I don't mean to keep you, but if you aren't meeting anyone here do you mind if we sit and…talk?"

She was fully prepared to say "sure" when she saw Damon walking up behind Nero.

Damon walked within centimeters of Nero, nearly crashing into his shoulder, but he avoided contact and came to stand beside Bonnie. She watched his eyes very carefully. They weren't wild which meant Nero's life had been extended for another five minutes.

But soon dread entered her belly when Damon pulled his lips into a smile that was more feral and crazy than jovial.

"It's you again," Damon said.

"Ah, Ne-, Aleksander," Bonnie corrected at the last second, "this is…"

"Damon," the vampire thrust his hand out for the boy to shake. "Damon Salvatore."

Nero grabbed Damon's hand and gave the hardest squeeze he could manage. "Aleksander Stavros."

The two men locked horns and Bonnie saw Nero wince just a bit at the pressure Damon was using. Bonnie touched Damon gently on the arm.

Damon let go right before he heard one of Nero's metacarpal bones snap. "Are you a friend of Bonnie's?"

Nero nodded and balled his throbbing hand into a tight fist. He tried to smile through the pain. "We share a class together. I was just asking her if she had any time to talk-,"

"She's busy," Damon interrupted.

"Damon, don't be rude," Bonnie looked up at him to which he glared back down at her. She ignored his mounting temper tantrum and turned back to Nero who was clearly trying to keep his anger in check. "He's just being overprotective as usual. But um…we'll see each other in class all right?"

"Sure. We'll talk then," Nero flashed his eyes at Damon briefly before retuning his gaze to Bonnie. He inclined his head and walked away.

Bonnie looked up at Damon who had his eyes planted on Nero as if he were measuring him for a coffin.

"I don't like him," Damon retorted.

"You don't like anybody."

He smiled down at her. "That's not true. I like you a _whole _lot. But I don't like anyone who's going to put the moves on my girlfriend."

Bonnie couldn't wipe the grin off her face even if you paid her. "Girlfriend, I like the sound of that."

Damon drew Bonnie closer to him unmindful of the fact they were in full view of the public. "I knew you would. Blow off your friends and then…we can blow each other," he widened his eyes theatrically.

Bonnie's blood pressure fluttered. She was tempted to give in, but she was still recovering from their latest tryst.

So she stepped away from him. It was time to deflect. "How's Alaric?"

"He's stuck in jail so that means he's the opposite of happy. I'm going to do what I can to get him out, but…things don't look good," Damon muttered gravely.

The new couple slid into an empty booth and weren't alone for five seconds before Stefan was sitting across from Bonnie.

"Sup," he said and then picked up the menu.

Damon rolled his eyes. So this is what it feels like. Having the shoe on the other foot because he was recalling all the times he would "magically" appear when Stefan and Elena were trying to have some alone time. Damon was positive his little brother was purposely trying to aggravate him.

"I thought it was going to be just us girls, Bon," Caroline joined the party much to Damon's chagrin. The blonde slipped off her jacket, looked around the restaurant to make sure another pair of eyes weren't watching her. When it was clear that everyone present was someone she knew either personally or by association, Caroline motioned for Stefan to scoot over. Reluctantly he did.

"Yeah, sorry. Where's Elena?" Bonnie asked.

"She's coming. She was detained by an Agent Sara Danvers from the State Bureau of Investigation office," Caroline said ominously.

Damon tensed a little. Bonnie felt it and looked at him curiously. "Do you know who she is?"

He didn't make direct eye contact with Bonnie. Instead he had his eyes plastered on the entrance to the restaurant. "Yeah, I met her at the last council meeting."

Bonnie was about to grill him with more questions when a beautiful blond strolled into the eatery with her despondent looking best friend in tow.

This Agent Sara Danvers was the type of beautiful you wanted to approach and punch right dead in the jaw. Several heads turned as she walked assuredly inside, her stroll seemingly bringing her right to Damon who tried to look at anything but her.

Bonnie kept her gaze locked on the long-legged blonde with the bright blue eyes, unblemished porcelain skin who certainly didn't dress like a state federal agent in slightly masculine clothing. If anything Bonnie was sure the tailored quarter length trench coat the agent was wearing hailed from the house of Burberry. On her feet weren't orthopedic loafers but a sleek pair of snakeskin stilettos that definitely weren't government issued.

The agent either was the work of a master plastic surgeon or she was just genetically gifted. Bonnie didn't appreciate the woman's Angelina Jolie size lips, her perfectly symmetrical oval shaped face, or the fact every guy within a ten mile radius was having difficulty keeping their eyes off of her.

"Mr. Salvatore," the agent addressed Damon when she stopped right next to him. "We meet again."

Damon stood up from the table remembering his old upbringing. "Yeah, Agent Danvers I'd like you to meet my brother Stefan, this blond thing is Caroline, and this is my sweetie Bonnie Bennett."

Surprise flitted across the woman's face after Damon introduced Bonnie as his sweetie. A little flabbergasted she immediately began to analyze those present at the table. So Damon preferred to surround himself with teenagers. How old did he say he was again?

"So we've been upgraded from judgy to sweetie, now?" Caroline glared at Bonnie. The witch in question glared right back as her lips twitched.

The agent nonetheless relied on her professionalism and shook hands with everyone at the table. She had a strong grip Bonnie realized and slightly large hands for a female. Ha! She found a flaw.

"If you have a minute I wanted to continue our earlier discussion," the agent spoke to Damon.

"I have nothing to say to someone who locks up a person with only circumstantial evidence."

The agent stepped closer to Damon. Bonnie certainly didn't like that.

"This isn't the right place to have this discussion," Agent Danvers slipped her hand in her purse and extracted a card. She handed it over to Damon. "When you're not babysitting give me a call."

Caroline's eyes widened, Bonnie's jaw dropped, Elena looked confused, and Stefan outright laughed.

"Chick I'm so old I could put you over _my_ knee," Stefan said. Bonnie kicked him under the table.

The agent stared at Stefan strangely and wondered if he had consumed any alcoholic beverages. In any case, she looked at Damon once more before heading to the bar.

Damon made a move to sit back down, but Bonnie's hands against his back propelled him forward. She slid out of the booth.

"Where are you going?" Damon asked.

"Outside and you're coming with me," Bonnie once again took a hold of someone and dragged that person behind her.

"Hey, I thought we were going to hang out," Caroline complained.

Bonnie turned to face her friends. "We are. I'll be right back."

Once the mild spring air hit her skin, Bonnie swung around to face Damon. "How bad are things, Damon? I know you've been keeping me out of the loop for whatever dumb reason, but now there's an FBI-,"

"SBI," he corrected.

Bonnie's eyes went heavenward. "There's an SBI agent in this town that's crawling with vampires and hybrids. You were just shot, Caroline almost died, Alaric has been arrested. What is going on?"

"Look, I'm not the only one playing something close to the vest. You never told me what you and that kid talked about the other day."

Damon had her there, Bonnie cursed. "What he told me is not my business to tell."

"Don't play that game with me, Bonnie. You want me to trust you with whatever is going on then you need show me the same courtesy. "

"Fine," Bonnie said unhappily. "But you have to promise not to get mad at me."

And Damon definitely didn't like the sound of that. "No deal. I'll tell you what. I'll promise not to eat anyone if I don't like whatever it is you have to say. That doesn't mean you'll be exempt from me being mad."

Figuring that was the best offer he was going to make, Bonnie nodded. Damon waved his hand in the direction of his car.

"After you, sweetheart," he smiled.

Bonnie grumbled as she made her way to his car.

Once his butt was parked behind the wheel, Damon leaned over and kissed Bonnie deeply on the mouth. "Don't worry. I plan to make this exchange of information _very _enjoyable," Damon promised as he winked at his girlfriend and settled against the seat. "So spill."

**The classical sound of **Vivaldi streaming through the house welcomed Kol Mikaelson. He located one of his elder brothers in the parlor enjoying a bottle of E & J brandy. He leaned against the entryway and observed for a moment knowing his presence and silence would irritate the hell out of the hybrid.

"What is it Kol?" Klaus asked impatiently.

"I think I may have found the hunter," Kol replied easily.

Klaus faced his younger brother. "Really now? So where he is?"

"The last place I spotted him was at The Grill where he tried to challenge me as I was talking with Bonnie. Any progress on your end to getting her to do the spell to unbound our lives? No?" Kol answered his own question. His civil manner turned cold in a heart beat. "Well, you might want to put a rush on that. The hunter's name is Connor, or at least that's what he's calling himself. He wears gloves—leather and the workout kind—that are drenched in vervain."

"Sure he's not just another paranoid human?" Klaus tried to debunk Kol's theory.

"If you live for a thousand years and can't spot a hunter then you are seriously lacking in being a good and deadly little vampire. Not to worry. I should have his location by morning. I've compelled someone to follow him and to be discreet about it. But if she's caught, and gets hurt she should be okay. I mean, she is a doctor after all."

The brothers shared a knowing smile.

"Well, perhaps I was wrong about you, Kol. You're not worthless at all."

Grabbing his heart, Kol smiled. "You shouldn't flatter me, brother. I still want you dead."

Chapter end.

**A/N: Yes, I did it once again. Cramming so much into one chapter. Well, I had to catch things up to speed with the hunter's story and bring in characters that have been gone for a few chapters. Next chapter very well might be a dozy because I'm seeing Connor make his first "major" move. But don't quote me on that. It may happen or it may be postponed in lieu of more Bamon goodness. So we'll see. Hope you enjoyed this. Until next time, love you! **


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: As I'm getting caught up to where I left off with the original version of this story, it's getting trickier to fit in those parts with the new storyline. So hopefully everything is still gelling properly. As in my customary fashion, a lot is going on and revealed. Thank you so much for your patience with me, and for leaving me your thoughts! Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: These characters (with the exception of Nero, he's my OC) are the creative property of LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Carol Lockwood prided herself for her unshakable demeanor when in the face of extreme, hostile adversity. She didn't grow up with money like her late husband did. She got a state funded education and worked hard through the ranks to become the interim mayor of a once respected Southern town. Now she was stuck policing hell and quite frankly she was sick of it.

Taking a moment to admire her reflection in the mirror, ignoring the jaunting crow's feet that marked her true age and not the one she was telling everyone, she cleared her throat and as routine dictated, made her way to the formal dining room for breakfast.

This house which hosted so many fundraisers and Founder's events had began to feel more like a crypt of secrets and lies. Nothing was sacred anymore. Not tradition. Not family. Not life. Carol sighed and checked the time on her Rolex one of many lavish gifts from Richard who thought spoiling her would make up for being a shitty husband and father.

She listened to the quiet movement of her house staff as they went about their chores in keeping the house pristine and in tip-top shape. Her thoughts, like always, shifted to her wayward son. She hadn't spoken to Tyler in months; had no idea where he was and when he would be returning home. His entire senior year was passing him by and from the looks of things he wouldn't be walking with his friends come June. Staying up until three in the morning, pacing her bedroom, and sometime's going into his room was the only way she could cope with her utter loneliness. If she could make the town safe again he might consider coming home and staying home. Carol just needed to make it happen.

When she looked over the scope of her life, Tyler was her only true joy and real accomplishment.

"Good morning, Cecile," Carol address her cleaning lady. Cecile nodded her head in return. She didn't speak much English but she was proficient at what she did, and kept her mouth shut which is why Carol hired her.

She had dealt with nosy housekeepers before. One had even written a tell-all about the Lockwood family that thankfully tanked.

No one outside of small towns cared about small towns.

Carol paused as she noticed that the floral arrangement on the table in the foyer wasn't exactly centered. She slid it over just a few inches to the right, smiled, and then headed towards her destination.

Sliding the oak doors open she came to a screeching halt when she saw someone enjoying a cup of her French brewed coffee.

"Stefan?" Carol placed a welcoming smile on her face that looked as real as a three dollar bill. "W-what are you doing here?"

Stefan sat the coffee cup down and rose from his seat. He pulled out the chair next to him and indicated with his hand that's where he wanted her to sit.

"Sorry to sneak up on you like this, Mayor Lockwood. Please. Sit."

Carol looked over her shoulder and cursed when she didn't see anyone she could call to for assistance to get her out of this. Seeing no way of escape, she walked into the room with her head held high. Stefan had never been that much of a threat to her, but she knew he was still one. Tentatively she sat down, keeping her eyes on him as he joined her.

She cleared her throat again and reached for the sterling silver coffee pot and poured a cup. "Again I ask why are you here?"

Stefan bore into her until she made eye contact with him. When she did Carol found it almost impossible to look away even though his gaze was somewhat intimidating.

"You and I don't interact much," Stefan began, "I think it's time we changed all of that." He crossed his legs. "My brother is head of the Council and I know he's been…lending his assistance with the string of murders that have cropped up. What I'm trying to understand is why you would call a federal agent to come and take over the investigation."

"Well, I'm glad I'm in a position where I don't have to explain myself to you, Stefan." She lowered her voice, "You might be a vampire but for all intents and purposes you're a seventeen year old kid. And as such, you should keep your anatomically correct nose out of grown people's business. Who I call in to assist in such matters should really be of no concern to you."

Carol rose abruptly from the chair. It would be a cold day in hell before she allowed anyone to intimidate her in her own home.

"Since you know where the door is, I'll leave it to you to get the hell out of my house." Carol made a grand showing of sweeping out of the room, yet unfortunately Stefan blocked the exit before she even reached the sliding oak doors.

He shut them behind him, grabbed Carol by the arm and walked her backwards to her chair where he promptly shoved her into it.

Anger burned in her eyes as her pulse raced.

Stefan, with one hand braced on the back of the chair, the other using the table as leverage he loomed over her, got up in her face.

"I think we should try this conversation again, Carol," his voice deceptively cool. "You're going to answer my questions," he held up his index finger, "the _first _time I ask them, and if you try to stall or lie to me lets just say I can get real creative with a butter knife."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I don't threaten. I promise." Stefan grabbed her chair turning it with his movements as he walked back to his seat and sat down. "Tell me everything and I do mean _everything _you know about Sara Danvers."

"**Sara Danvers is a bitch**," Elena said. Caroline and Bonnie exchanged looks and kept silent. They knew more was sure to follow from Elena's revelation. "She stood there and tried to make it seem like it was amoral of Ric to assume responsibility of me and Jeremy since Jenna 'conveniently left town' her words not mine. I mean, I literally felt a chill run down my spine when she brought up Jenna."

"Wait," Caroline interrupted. "How does she even know about Jenna?"

Elena shrugged and rifled through her huge cosmetics bag. "I don't know. She said she did some preliminary research before taking on the case of the serial murders. She said she talked with Jenna's mentor for her thesis. I was against it was first but I'm glad Damon compelled her teacher to say she was taking an extended leave of absence. I don't trust this agent. What if she gets too close to the truth?"

Bonnie and Caroline shared worried expressions.

"What else did she ask or interrogate you about?" Bonnie's curiosity got the better of her.

Elena looked up towards the ceiling trying to remember. "She wanted to know if anyone I knew personally had been exhibiting strange behavior," she rolled her eyes. "I said pick a day because everyone I know is strange."

Caroline worried her lip and kept mum when on any ordinary day she would have burst out with a defensive statement.

"In any case," Elena continued, "I've been calling Ric nonstop, and every time I do it goes straight to voice mail. I can't reach him, which is not completely odd, but I'm starting to worry."

A guilty pang coursed through Bonnie because she knew for a fact that Alaric was locked behind bars with a half a million dollar bond hanging over his head.

"I'm sure he's looped on the liquor," Caroline tried to quell Elena's needless worrying. "He's been working on the investigation, right?" Elena nodded. Caroline continued. "He's probably busy with that."

Again that guilty pang dropped kicked Bonnie in the stomach and she wanted to spill the beans so bad, but she purged enough last night by telling Damon about Nero, what he might potentially be, and to put the icing on top, she confessed that she exposed what she was to him.

Damon, like she knew he would, hit the fucking roof!

"_YOU DID WHAT? Why would you tell him that, Bonnie?! You could have told him anything!"_

"_Will you calm down?! It's my secret to tell and Nero, he lost his entire family, Damon. He doesn't know why, and might never learn why. Some man I never met from Adam told him to come here and ask for me."_

"_You're not getting sucked into some mafia shit, that's for damn sure and if I have anything to say about it."_

"_Oh, great here we go. I can take care of myself," Bonnie argued._

"_So says the witch who ended up in a coma for four months while trying to bring a loser back from the dead."_

_She laughed derisively. "I'm looking at a former loser who I helped saved plenty of times in the past."_

_Damon's smile was chilling. "Not the same thing, sweetheart. Let me dig around and see if I can find out anymore about this Nero dude and Mina-,"_

"_Misha," Bonnie corrected, "Misha Cristova. And you don't have to look into anything. Your hands are full as it is. There's a vampire hunter in town, unsolved murders, an SBI agent asking questions, and Alaric is in jail. Isn't that enough to be worried about?"_

_Damon shrugged. "Sounds like a typical Thursday to me. Seriously, Bon, for my peace of mind please limit your contact with this guy. If someone took out his entire family and traces his whereabouts here, and they discover you're all buddy-buddy you know our track record when it comes to people turning up missing."_

_Bonnie sighed. She knew Damon had a valid point. Still the do-gooder in her wanted to help Nero as much as possible to uncover the truth about what happened to his family on top of the possibility of him being the progeny of a hunter. _

"_Fine, Damon. Just know, Nero and I go to the same school, and we have a class together. So avoiding him altogether won't be possible."_

"_I get that. Doesn't mean you have to become the boy's protector. You don't owe him anything. And how does this Mina—"_

"_Misha!"_

"_Whatever, how does this person even know about you?"_

_Bonnie shook her head and nibbled a corner of her lip. "I don't know." And the fact she didn't know scared her because if he knew who else knew? Who else could potentially be looking for her?_

_Now that Damon got his answers, it was time for her to get some as well. "Can you tell me why that agent is here?"_

_He nodded and sighed heavily. "Apparently Carol Lockwood was impatient with Liz's lack of progress on cracking the serial murders. So she called in a favor to someone at the state bureau of investigation's office. Tourist season is coming up and the mayor wants to put Mystic Falls on the map as the poor man's version of Martha's Vineyard. And no one is going to want to bring their families to a town where the citizens are being picked off."_

_Bonnie mulled over his words. "And your involvement in all of this?"_

"_I'm there to serve as eye candy," he winked. "Liz wants me to make sure that anything which points to vampires, goblins, and leprechauns does not get put in any official government report." _

"_Diversionary tactic…I don't like it," Bonnie deadpanned._

"_Neither do I. This was all fun in the beginning. It was my way of keeping my eyes and ears on the human's comings and goings, but now…I actually have to do some work!"_

_Bonnie laughed. "My poor, hardworking man. I should go home and cook you a pot roast."_

"_You know what they say. A way to a man's heart is through his stomach."_

"_In your case it would be a stake."_

_He frowned at Bonnie and then pulled her close. He kissed her cheek, then her lips, and it didn't take long before he was mauling her and pulling at her clothes. Bonnie had slammed on the brakes and pitifully reminded Damon they had people waiting for them back inside the restaurant. Pouting, Damon exited the car. Bonnie followed, and then linked her fingers with his. _

Coming out of her reverie, Bonnie tuned back into the conversation with her girlfriends. Elena was still speaking.

"But you know what I don't get…who called Sara Danvers?"

Bonnie felt her stomach bottom out. She knew the answer to that. If she told, she'd have to tell how she knew, and that could lead to questions she wasn't sure she wanted to answer just yet.

"I heard," Bonnie began, "through the grapevine that it was Carol Lockwood."

Elena turned around and stared at Bonnie and Caroline blinked at her. "Why would she do that?" Elena queried.

Bonnie hedged. "She was getting impatient with the lack of progress being made. She must have been smoking something because to ask someone who's a non-council member, let alone someone who doesn't even live here to come in and investigate, she's putting a lot on the line."

Her two friends nodded their heads. They grew quiet for a while until Caroline disrupted the silence.

"Okay enough with the doom and gloom. We can talk about that until the sun comes up. What I want deets on is you," Caroline pointed accusingly at Bonnie, "sucking face and being involved with Damon Salvatore. Are you crazy?"

Bonnie kept her facial expression neutral. It had been difficult to tell Elena that she was seeing Jeremy although that hadn't been the proper phrase. They weren't exactly dating. They kissed once after she mind-jacked Luca Martin and then all of a sudden they were a couple. Nothing about their coupling had been traditional, and it would seem she was repeating history in that regard.

"No, I'm not crazy," Bonnie flicked her eyes over to Elena who was staring at her through the reflection in the mirror.

"How long have you two been seeing each other?" Caroline asked tentatively.

Bonnie hesitated.

Elena turned from the mirror again seemingly anxious. "Bon…?"

Bonnie looked at the mirrored expressions on her best friends' faces and knew it was time to come clean. "For a few weeks," she mumbled quietly but unashamedly.

"Why the_ fuck_ are you with him?" Caroline asked sharply. Bonnie was taken aback because she had expected that reaction from Elena. "I'm sorry," the blonde vampire quickly amended and swallowed thickly. "I'm just having a hard time processing this. You have to understand how this all looks. You two hated each other and now you're a thing."

"Well you and Matt barely spoke to one another and then one day you were together, and no one questioned or looked at you strangely for it," Bonnie said defensively. "The same with Tyler."

At the mention of Tyler, Caroline swallowed thickly. She hadn't heard from him in weeks, and she was truly beginning to believe he was never coming back. She didn't think it would take _this_ long to break a sire bond. Apparently it did.

"I know he's _Damon _and I'm me, but we talked, and we clicked, and found out we have a lot in common. I don't expect the two of you to understand or get it because of his past and your history with him, but Damon has been so good to me, and he makes me feel good," Bonnie shifted on Caroline's bed.

The young witch knew it would be a large pill for those in her close circle to swallow, but that truth did little to diminish the smile and the radiance that overtook her face.

Elena stared at Bonnie and recognized that look. Her heart, against her own will began to pound. For a short while, Elena too had nearly fallen under Damon's spell. But consequences and a healthy dose of common sense pummeled her and she got out while the getting was good. She knew she and Bonnie were two different people; however, Elena couldn't avoid feeling as if Bonnie were being sucked into something that she might not escape unscathed. Perhaps she was jumping the gun and being paranoid for no reason. But it was _Damon _they were discussing after all.

There was plenty Caroline wanted to say, but she withheld her tongue not wanting to poke holes in Bonnie's bubble.

"So…" a permanent furrow took up residence on Elena's forehead. She wanted an answer to this question but she was terrified of asking it. However she licked her lips and forged ahead "Are…are you in love with him?"

That was a question Bonnie found herself asking as each day rolled by. Was or had she already fallen in love with Damon? Perhaps she should tell her friends about her dreams, without going into too much detail of course, but maybe if she explained to them how she came about wanting to explore being more than Damon's go-to, get out of jail resident witch it might lessen…

But why should she have to explain why she wanted to be with Damon? It was her life, her choice, her prerogative. And quite frankly, Bonnie didn't have to prove anything to anyone. Or answer to anyone.

Nevertheless, Bonnie realized that Elena and Caroline were waiting for her to answer the question.

"If I am…he deserves to know first," Bonnie responded.

Caroline could do nothing but shake her head. She rolled off the bed. "I need some air."

Both Elena and Bonnie watched her leave. After a beat Bonnie went after her friend.

Bonnie sat down next to Caroline on the front porch. She was desperate to know what was bothering her so much about her relationship with Damon. Sure it was Damon but he had redeeming qualities like everyone else, and he wasn't the selfish, heartless asshole he used to be.

_Oh_, it dawned on Bonnie.

"Care…" she laid her hand gently on top of Caroline's. "This is about how Damon treated you when he first moved back isn't it?"

Caroline attempted to smile and failed. "I know it's stupid," she sniffled.

"No," Bonnie refuted. "It's not stupid. He hurt you…he used you…"

Caroline bristled. That was a part of her past she didn't want to relive and something she had to work through once she became a vampire and the dark spots in her memory were recovered. Damon had treated her like a mindless hoe. He bit her, he abused her, he said foul things to her, treated her like she wasn't shit. Told her nonchalantly that he was going to kill her and then turned around three seconds later and had sex with her. And the sick and twisted part of the whole thing: Caroline actually felt she deserved being treated that way because she had a rep as being a maneater. How prophetic that would turn out to be much later.

"And the worst part," Caroline added, "he never, not once apologized," she turned to face Bonnie. "I know he's not the same person anymore but…it bothered me that Elena was so willing to forgive Damon for _every _single foul thing he did after only hating him for a day. And then she did the stupid thing by catching feelings for him. You were the one I relied on to keep the I Hate Damon Salvatore fan club going and now…you've gone to the dark side," she chuckled dryly. "He hurt me, Bonnie…worst than anyone ever had."

Hearing this gave Bonnie considerable pause. She placed herself in Caroline's shoes and knew she would side-eye the hell out of her friend who wanted to be with the man responsible for abusing her.

"I mean," Caroline went on, "people have been mean to me, but he certainly took the cake. It's just hard for me to be happy for my _best _friend when the guy she's with…nearly broke everything about me. I don't…I want you to be happy and if Damon Salvatore is it, then so be it," the blonde vampire mumbled grudgingly.

Bonnie didn't want Caroline to accept her relationship with Damon by default. What her friends thought of the guy she was willing to commit to was important to her, but not exactly the end all be all. Save for, this did bring a lot of things to light.

"Care I don't want you to think that I'm not taking your feelings into consideration. I know the kind of person Damon was, and the kind of person he's still capable of being. I'm not walking into this with blinders on. He hurt you and he does have to own up to that…"

"And, Bon I don't want you to second-guess if you should be with him. I could never ask you to choose. It wouldn't be fair. A friend is a poor substitute for a lover."

"Sometimes it's the best substitute. You're my family, Care. Family comes first."

Caroline still looked uncertain, but Bonnie knew she was trying to really hard to be happy for her. "No, I'm not going to decide the fate of your relationship. I don't want that on my hands. My problems with Damon are just that, _my _problems. And I also know…you wouldn't be with him unless of course you saw some good in him. Naturally he would have had to move heaven and earth to be with you. That being said…if he makes you happy then I'll try my best to be happy for you."

"You don't need to try. You don't need to fake your way through anything. Hate Damon. I encourage you to do it," Bonnie smiled. Caroline snorted good-naturedly. "I just don't want you to feel like I'm putting him over you."

"You kind of have to. He's your boyfriend."

"You're my family," Bonnie reiterated.

Elena stepped out on the porch. "Hey," she said softly and sat down, sandwiching Caroline in the middle. "Are you guys all right?"

"I don't know," Bonnie answered honestly. "Are we?"

Caroline shrugged. "We are," she said. "But, Bon I'll keep you in my prayers."

All three girls giggled.

Bonnie leaned forward until she could see Elena. "Any thoughts or feelings you want to share about my relationship with Damon?"

Elena opened her mouth when a wave of irrationality hit her. That small, petulant side of her wanted to say that Damon saw her first and by right he should still continue to come after her until he wore her down, but at the end of the day, Elena realized that Damon was more than she could handle. She loved Bonnie with all her heart and after the year she had she deserved happiness, and if Damon was that source of happiness, then there was nothing she could do but support her best friend.

"I just hope that he won't hurt you," Elena confided. "If he does, I have a sharpened stake with his name on it. Seriously, it's not my place to tell you who to be with. All that I care about is that he makes you happy."

"He does," Bonnie responded unequivocally. "He makes me _so_ happy."

"Then it's settled," Elena sighed, relieved a potential crisis had been aborted. "Bonnie is with Damon now and I'm sure pigs will be flying in the morning."

Bonnie reached over and pinched Elena. "Let's go back inside. My nails looks like I've been playing in rocks," Bonnie stood up. Caroline and Elena did as well and all three shuffled their way back into Caroline's home for glam night.

**Meredith Fell **was not the most organized person on the face of the planet. She had a slight hoarding problem stemming from a combative childhood. Her parents wanted strict order in her life but Meredith had fought them tooth and nail. Instead of going into the "family business" of slaying dragons and other mythical beasts, she decided to tackle communicable and non-communicable diseases.

Frantically she searched her files for that report on her deadbeat ex to clear Alaric's name. Lying to the police kind of went hand-in-hand when you grew up in a town like Mystic Falls were demons and monsters were only supposed to exist on the pages of a children's storybook. But that wasn't reality.

Finally she located what she needed and quickly flipped through the pages. Just as she was about to stand up she caught sight of the man, the man someone told her to follow. Dropping the folder on her desk, Meredith blindly reached for the keys to her car and followed the man out of the hospital.

Rational questions began to bombard her mind like: why was he here? Why was she following him? Why was it so important she call the number that had been programmed into her phone the minute she spotted this man? She didn't have answers. Just an overwhelming urge to do this job and to do it without being seen.

Quietly and as inconspciously as she could, Meredith followed the man out to the parking lot. He was heading towards a truck that had seen much better days. The man climbed inside after throwing a black bag into the passenger seat. He fired up his engine prompting Meredith to get to her car and follow him.

Her finger hit the number 5 key on her phone. It rang twice before the line was connected.

"I'm following him."

"Wonderful, darling. Call me as soon as he gets to wherever it is he's going."

"Yes," Meredith hung up and sped out of the parking lot. She began to trail behind the truck making sure she kept enough distance between her sedan and the other vehicle to avoid suspicion. She licked her top lip, made the appropriate turns and then realized the truck was heading outside of town. She frowned yet kept driving.

Minutes later, the truck made a right turn on a side street that was practically hidden from the main road. Meredith kept driving straight for about a quarter of a mile before hooking a three point turn, and doubling back. She then turned left, brought the car to a crawl and drove an additional mile and a half through the woods. She caught sight of something and shut off the headlights. Meredith threw the car in park.

Picking up her phone, she hit the redial button. "He's located about a mile south, southwest of the quarry. He's living in an RV."

"I'll be there shortly, lass. Thank you for your help."

"Am I finished?"

"Yeah, you're finished."

A gunshot rang through the air.

**Caroline marched into her **bedroom a forlorn expression on her face that instantly cut the chatter between Elena and Bonnie. Sighing heavily, she shook her head wondering when this seemingly never-ending nightmare and bad luck would come to a dramatic close. How many months had it been since there had been nothing but a series of monotony, a moment of peace? The personable vampire honestly couldn't remember.

Doubled with what she was being _forced _to do, made Caroline feel even more horrible. But there were people _she _needed to protect as well, and hopefully once the dust settled and cleared those left standing would understand why she did what she was going to have to do.

And very soon.

Her cornflower blue eyes locked with Elena who immediately sensed that something was wrong. Hopefully it wasn't something _fatally _wrong.

"What's going on?" Elena asked.

"I just got off the phone with my mom. They made an arrest last night."

"That's good," Elena was prepared to release the tension that clammed in her body, but by the look on Caroline's face there was more grave news ahead so she braced herself. "What aren't you telling us, Caroline?"

Caroline hesitated for a moment. "They arrested Alaric."

Elena shot off the bed—incredulous. "They did what?! Alaric didn't have anything to do with those people getting killed! For goodness sake he was stabbed by the person responsible! Have they forgotten that?"

"I don't think they forgot, but they collected evidence from his apartment, and it's being tested. It…it doesn't look good for him, Elena. Sorry."

Running a hand through her hair, Elena shook her head unable to accept and comprehend what was going on. All she wanted to do was rush down to the station and demand to speak with Ric. He wouldn't kill innocent people. He was a vampire hunter. He wasn't a serial murderer. Grabbing her bag and keys, Elena pushed past Caroline and headed for the door.

Bonnie and Caroline rushed after her.

"Elena you're too upset to drive," Bonnie said.

"Yeah," Caroline seconded. "I'll take you."

"Whatever. Can we just go?!"

Caroline nodded and looked at Bonnie silently asking if she wanted to come along. Bonnie shook her head. Feasibly there was nothing she could do for Ric. Or maybe there was. An idea began to form in her mind.

"I'll call you guys later," Bonnie announced.

Elena was already out the door and waiting for Caroline at the car.

Alone, Bonnie looked around the Forbes residence and figured she might as well make her way back to the boardinghouse. She wasn't exactly sure where Damon was, but she figured Stefan should be home because he usually was around this time, unless he got the urge to see Keiko. Nevertheless, she grabbed her belongings, turned off the lights, and left.

**Damon's day had been shit. **After spending countless hours with that felon Ric, going over evidence with Liz, without pay he might add, his ass hurt, his eyeballs felt like dust, his gums were throbbing, and he missed Bonnie. Other than sending her a text early this morning that had been the only contact he had had with her. And he was on his way home to see her.

As he drove Damon thought over everything he learned. There had been a connection to those who were killed. They had all been members of the founding families. Carly Lawson had been a distant relative of the Lockwoods, maybe being a third or forth cousin to Tyler, something like that. He wasn't sure and at the end of the day he really didn't care. Yet this all told him the murderer _knew_ about the Council, and was maybe trying to destroy it from the outside—in.

Why? And what for? Well, the answer was more than obvious to him.

Rubbing his tired eyes, Damon parked his car when suddenly something hit him.

This had happened once before. The wholesale killing of certain founding family members. Back in 1912.

He could search the stacks in the library for information about the murders back when they were originally documented and chronicled, but Damon didn't have the patience to hop back in his car. Besides he lived with his very own historian.

Flashing up to Stefan's room he stumbled a little on his feet when he saw Stefan and Bonnie sitting on his leather love seat playing video games. That vision certainly wasn't what he wanted to come home to.

"You're back," Stefan said without taking his eyes off the screen. "How's Ric? You told him not to drop the soap, right?"

Damon snorted and headed over to Stefan's wardrobe that was filled with nothing but journals. "Cute," he finally said and looked for the one he needed.

"Is this what the two of you have been doing all day?" Damon asked after finding the journal he needed. He began to flip through the pages.

"I was with the girls earlier," Bonnie answered, working her fingers over the controls like a pro. "Elena knows that Ric's been arrested."

"Yeah, I saw her at the station," Damon replied listlessly. There had been snot and tears, not a pretty sight.

"She didn't take the news so well when she found out," Bonnie nibbled a corner of her lip as she took her attention off the game and looked at Damon who was busily flipping pages in Stefan's journal. There was no kind of emotional strain on his face, and Bonnie felt sort of bad for thinking this but it pleased her. In the olden days, if anything so much as upset Elena, Damon would have dropped whatever he was doing to tend to her. She was guilty of it too. Those days were long over.

Damon felt Bonnie's eyes on him and he willed his lips not to smirk. "You know Elena. Drama is her middle name. She'll be all right. Look at this way," he finally looked at his girl, "Ric is better off in jail rather than being a target."

"Wouldn't him being in jail _make _him a target?" Stefan refuted. "I mean, he can't go anywhere and if he is on someone's hit list, Liz and Mystic Falls' finest just made him quite easy to kill."

Damon had to acknowledge his stupid brother had a point. He made a mental note to advise Liz to beef up security. Not like it would do anything especially if the killer turned out to be supernatural. Until that was confirmed or denied, every little bit could help.

"Oh, here's the best news of the day," Bonnie brightened. "Stefan spent the morning becoming Carol Lockwood's new boy toy."

Upon hearing that Damon snapped his head up, eyes narrowed. He approached the twosome and sat down next to Bonnie and then planted his legs over their laps.

"Hooves off," Stefan commanded and pushed Damon's legs off his.

"Please explain what you mean by that," the dark-haired vampire exclaimed and then repositioned his legs on the coffee table.

Stefan finally looked at his brother. "Why are you reading my journal? I keep the smut under my bed."

Bonnie could do nothing but shake her head and snort. She wish she knew a spell to tune out her hearing because there were just certain conversations she didn't want to be privy to.

Damon ignored him as he read entry after entry, his eyes flying over the words. Gah his brother was so damn dull and full of regret Damon figured it'd be a miracle he didn't have boobs and a vagina after reading Stefan's detailed misery.

"Why don't you tell me more about you becoming Missus C's boy toy? How and why?"

"Well, now that she's a widow and since the two of you hit it off so well when you moved back to town, she thought you would have been beating down her door offering a shoulder to cry on and a nice young dick to ride every so oftern. My apologies, Bonnie."

"None needed, I've heard much worse from you."

Stefan continued. "But once it became glaringly obvious you have a thing for teenaged girls she put her hopes and dreams of becoming a certfied MILF on the back burner."

"You're saying all of this to say what, Stefan?" Damon felt his patience waning.

"That the mayor was being exceedingly tight lipped about something, which spells she's hiding something. It could be this Sara chick may or may not be an agent, and that she might be a hunter. Just don't know. But I have a hunch."

Damon paused in his reading, lifted and tilted his head to the side before the corners of his mouth turned down and his eyebrows lifted. Sounded plausible. He went back to reading. "Un-hun," was his only comment.

Stefan carried on. "I promised the mayor that I'd look out for her and if she were to get into any trouble she could call on me."

Damon's gaze wondered over to his brother over the top of Bonnie's head who had been concentrating on the game this whole time.

"In exchange for what?" pressed Damon.

"In exchange she cough up the name of the person who recommended this agent lady. Carol didn't take the bait, just said she'd give it some consideration. The agent has also been asking questions about you. And we can't have that now can we?"

"No, the hell we can't," Damon concurred.

"That's where our girl Bonnie comes in," Stefan nudged said girl with his shoulder.

Damon frowned severely. "You're not getting Bonnie involved in this."

"Bonnie is already involved in this," the girl in question replied and paused the game. "Ric is my friend just like he's yours, and anyone circling you well they're circling me too. We still don't know who shot you and Caroline. It could have been her, and if it is, she's got to go."

He couldn't help it, Damon broke out into a goofy grin. He leaned into Bonnie. "I like you being all possessive. It's hot as hell."

Bonnie smirked in kind. "You think this is possessive well you ain't seen nothing yet, my friend. There are things I'm going to need and I need you and your brother to get them for me. There's a spell I can do."

"All right," Damon agreed. "Just tell me what so we can get things cracking."

"The list is on your desk. You'll have to go to Maryland because that's where most of the ingredients are located."

Damon's eyes popped out of their sockets. "Maryland? You can't order it off the internet?"

"No, you can't."

"And this takes two vampires to do?" Damon continued with his line of questioning.

Bonnie exhaled deeply. She had already been through this when she explained the parameters of the situation to Stefan. There was a spell, similar to one she used on Luca Martin to gain entry into his thoughts and get him to spill the beans on what he and his father had been up to with Elijah. However, this spell was more complicated and detailed and she lacked the resources needed in order to perform it. Bonnie preferred handling business with Stefan because he only asked pertinent questions to the mission and knew how to stay on task. Unlike Damon who was notorious for polking holes into things. Well, she amended, Stefan was guilty of that as well. But he typically didn't fight her tooth and nail on something.

"Yes," Bonnie nodded. "There are a few items only a vampire can get."

"And what will you be doing the whole time we're away?"

"I'll be at my house with Elena, Caroline, Matt, and Jeremy."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're having dudes stay over?" Damon got up from the love seat to glare down at his girlfriend. "Why does Jeremy have to be on the list of attendees?"

"Because, Damon, it's his guardian as well that's been locked up. You really expect him to stay in that house by himself? And he's not staying with me. He's going to stay with Matt. It will only be me and the girls."

Damon relaxed after hearing that and went back to flipping through Stefan's journal. When he placed his back to them, Stefan leaned over and whispered something in Bonnie's ear that caused her to bark out into laughter.

"I heard that," Damon said and shook his head in frustration. There was nothing here that could help him.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Stefan queried and stood up. He stretched the muscles in his back and cricked his neck.

"No," Damon said after a moment of pointless reading. "I don't know why I thought you would have written anything of substance. Someone knocked off members of the founding families back in 1912. I was hoping there might have been a connection back then to explain what's happening now. No dice," he sighed and threw the journal on Stefan's desk. He began heading towards the door. "Bonnie bring that ass."

Something like lightning zapped him right on the butt cheek causing him to yelp and grab his backside. He turned and saw that the entire back pocket of his jeans was missing. He stared across the room at his girlfriend.

"Excuse me but address me with respect, please. You're not dealing with a pushover, Damon," Bonnie warned with a challenging eyebrow cocked in the air.

Stefan tried to hold his snickers in and couldn't. He reached for Bonnie's hand and pulled her up from the couch, and then kissed her knuckles.

"And this is how a gentleman treats a lady," Stefan boasted and winked at Bonnie.

Damon observed them and barely resisted growling. So he might have had some residual testosterone pumping through his system after throwing his weight around the police station all day. He hadn't felt that alive in months—years and he missed the prick he used to be. No he hadn't exactly meant to talk to Bonnie in a disrespectful manner; it slipped out. Now his dim-witted brother was trying to captilize on his mistake.

Bonnie smiled at Stefan and then squeezed his hand. "You are the more charming one," Bonnie admitted.

Damon was flabbergasted and stepped back into the room, planting himself right beside his girlfriend. "What do you mean he's the more charming one. I can be charming."

Bonnie looked up at him. "No, what you are is seductive."

He grinned cockily at that. "That doesn't sound like such a bad thing when you say it."

She patted his cheek none-too-gently. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but most women prefer to be charmed than seduced. Seduction is good, but being charmed is better."

Damon entered her personal space as his eyes began to smolder. "You don't think I can be charming?"

Bonnie wrapped both arms around his shoulders. "You have your moments, but Stefan is hands down the charmer between the both of you."

The vampire in question could do nothing but puff his chest out to Texas and rock back and forth on his heels while his eyebrows wiggled up and down.

"I feel like we need to have a little competition," said Damon. "I feel like my rep is on the line."

Bonnie shook her head. It hadn't been her intention to make a simple statement of fact spiral into this.

"We don't have time for a little competition. And your rep is fine. It's better than fine because you certainly lived up to _all_ of my expectations," she grinned saucily.

Damon captured her lips in a dizzying kiss while Stefan's thoughts ran along this course—eww.

Bonnie tucked her bottom lip between her teeth when the kiss ended. "You and Stefan have to get on the road, and we need to help Alaric in anyway we can as soon as possible. Come on," she took him by the hand to steer him out of Stefan's bedroom.

"I don't mind a little competition," Stefan voiced.

"Maybe some other time, brother," Damon winked just a second prior to being yanked out of the room behind Bonnie.

Silently they walked through the halls. "You know I didn't mean what I said back there or the way it came out," Damon mumbled when the silence was too much.

"I know," Bonnie said but her voice didn't sound convincing to him. He clasped her by the hand and backed her up to the nearest wall. He kissed her neck, sucking the flesh between his teeth. Bonnie moaned a little and arched her neck giving him better access.

"Have I told you how pretty you look today?" he asked.

"You may have mentioned it this morning," Bonnie pushed him away until they could make eye contact. She smiled knowingly. "That's still not being charming."

Damon pouted and his shoulders slumped. "Damn. Well oblige me to prove to you how charming I can be."

"That's all well and good but I'm not necessarily in the mood to be charmed," she dipped her hand to his backside and squeezed. Damon growled. She giggled and took his hand again and led the way to his bedroom, but Damon pulled her backwards. "What?"

"We haven't seen each other all day today. And I might have missed you."

"Oh, no please tell me you aren't the clingy type," Bonnie deadpanned, but inwardly she was giddy.

Damon snorted. "Far from it," and he wrapped one arm around Bonnie's waist and brought her closer until her breasts were flattened against his chest. "But after working hard all day at basically doing nothing, coming home and finding you in my brother's bedroom…makes me want to _mark_ you," he pressed his cool lips against her neck, inhaled deeply, before capturing her sensitive skin between his teeth.

Bonnie hissed from the pleasure and pain of it. Her head began to cloud with lust. "You already have," she confessed sultrily. Bonnie grabbed his hand and made him cup her through her jeans. "Here."

A tingle went down Damon's spine as he felt her heat through the demin barrier. "_Fuck," _he whispered and kissed her greedily. There was a good place, an excellent place to start, but he wanted more than just to be her sex buddy. He wanted Bonnie. Every single last drop of her. He wanted her friendship, her trust, Damon wanted…her love.

The thought wasn't shocking and it wasn't scary. It was just the natural order of things as his lips continued to prod hers while his tongue speared deep inside her mouth, tasting her, giving her a vivid demonstration of what was to come much later.

Bonnie adored the fact Damon was so passionate and hands on. He made her crazy, kept her up all night, and made her want things she hadn't wanted in a long time. However, that didn't blind her from the fact something vital was missing. This made Bonnie think of her conversation with her friends, but most importantly the question Elena asked her.

Did she love Damon? Did she love him in spite of the person he used to be? Could she erase what he did to her friends, to his brother on his quest to free Katherine from her mind? That seemed like ancient history but in reality it wasn't that long ago. It went without saying that Damon had changed, yet had a lot to atone for. But was _that _Damon Salvatore still living somewhere deep inside and could resurface at any moment? Was it wise to get in any deeper than she presently was when the future was so unclear, uncertain?

She didn't know. But Bonnie liked to believe that if she were falling in love that Damon would gladly join her and they could fall together.

"I have this writing assignment due in my Creative Writing class," Bonnie deflected and carefully disengaged her lips from Damon's demanding little mouth. She stared up at him. "Can you take a look at it and tell me what you think?"

Damon bowed gallently before her. "It would be my honor, milady."

Bonnie snickered. "Still not charming."

Rolling his eyes in exasperation of Bonnie's high standards and requisites, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder as the two continued on their way up to the master bedroom.

"You know," Damon said as they mounted the stairs, "I have a better idea. There is a dress designed by Chanel hanging somewhere in my closet. I want you to put it on, and get dolled up because I want to take you somewhere nice."

Bonnie couldn't contain her smile, but she pressed Damon with an unwavering stare. "I have homework."

"And school is still cancelled. Next excuse?"

The young woman thought for a moment and came up empty. Bonnie shook her head. "I guess I'm out."

Damon smirked in triumph. When would Bonnie learn that he _always _got his way? "Great. So go on up, and get ready. And hurry up because I'm hungry."

"Go warm up a Pop-Tart or something," Bonnie suggested flipplantly. "And you need to change your pants."

Damon snapped his fingers now remembering the source of that draft he was feeling. "In a minute. I'm parched," he headed over to his second most favorite place. His most favorite place to be was inside Bonnie. He smiled.

Bonnie made her way into his bedroom trying her best not to geek out at the impending treasure hunt she was about to embark on the second she tossed open the door to Damon's humongous walk-in closet.

She searched through his endless procession of dark clothes until she found the garment hanging on a wooden hanger. The dress was simple in design, black in color, and would ultimately hug her in all the right places. Bonnie checked the tag. Yep it was just her size. The price tag was still attached and her eyes ballooned at how much it cost. Damon could have bought groceries for a family four for three months for the price he paid for this dress.

Turning to exit the closet, Bonnie stopped suddenly. She knew it was time to tell Damon how she felt, but they also needed to have a serious discussion about a multitude of things. With so much going on, part of her felt guilty for even wanting to take the time out of their constantly hectic schedules just to have a romantic night on the town. Bonnie warred with herself to decline Damon's impromptu outing invitation and remind him of the problems that needed solving, but she couldn't. Didn't want to really. And why should she have to? This was her only life and she had to live it.

Besides what could happen by putting something off for another day?

_Earth's annhiliation, _her killjoy of a brain took pleasure in reminding her, but Bonnie ignored it and pushed it to the far recesses of her mind. She was going to do it. Tonight. She was going to tell Damon that she loved him. That she had fallen in love with him. And if he knew what was good for him, he better reciprocate her feelings or he'd be one dead-dead vampire.

**There was something deeply **gratifying when a plan came together. Kol Mikaelson stretched his arms above his head and whistled a little tune as he walked through the clearing. Up ahead he saw a parked car, engine still running, and about fifty feet away was a trailer just as she said.

As he took a cursory sniff of the air, Kol noticed something was glaringly absent.

The scent of blood.

As he approached the car hoping to find a gruesome scene of poor Dr. Fell slumped against the seat with her brains splattered every which way, the car was remarkably clean. And empty.

The sound of boots crunching the dead earth below caught Kol's attention who spun around and came face-to-face with the man who accosted him at the Grill while he had been speaking with Bonnie.

Kol, at this point, could care less what happened to the doctor. That was one less person he'd have to get rid of at a later date. He found who he had been after and once knocking the man unconscious because there was no bloody way he'd actually kill the hunter and activate that dreaded curse, Kol would take him back to his siblings to decide his fate.

Connor stared at Kol who looked awfully smug for a vampire who just walked into a perfectly laid out trap. No pleasantries needed to be exchanged because there were none in the first place. Taking aim, Connor fired off his brand new toy.

Kol tried, although futilely to dive out of the way, but the deadly object which was a constructed ball of wood with wooden spikes hit him square in chest. Two of the pronged ends pierced his heart and instantly Kol lost consciousness. He fell to the ground.

Connor never smiled when he took down a vampire, but this time he may have cracked a tiny grimace. He approached Kol, cautiously, and reloaded his weapon just in the off chance he missed the Original's heart. His dark, molasses colored eyes snapped up when he heard someone approaching from the west. Connor relaxed but only infinitesimally.

"I must applaud you. Not many people can say they took down an Original."

"Not many people can say they lived long after meeting an Original," Connor replied. "You sure he and his siblings are still connected?"

A raven head bobbed up and down in the affirmative. "Klaus should be figuring it out by now that he's on borrowed time."

"Unless he goes to a witch for a contingency plan."

"You let me worry about that. Focus on clean up. It's long overdue for this town."

"With pleasure," Connor said. "The purge is gonna happen this Saturday at Carly Lawson's funeral. You got a black dress?"

"I always keep one handy."

Chapter end.

**A/N: Now who is Connor talking to? Is it Meredith? Is it someone else? Is time running out for The Originals? Lots of questions that need to be answered, but I think the most important one is: Will Bonnie and Damon finally say those three little, yet impactful words to each other? Until next time, guys. Love you!**


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